Always leave them wanting more
by Emaline
Summary: FINALLY COMPLETE!!! HURRAY!!! Rory and Jess's relationship takes a serious turn. Takes place at the end of senior year, around prom
1. Don't Count on the Dancing

Title: Always Leave them wanting more  
  
Name: Emaline  
  
Email: burgundymist6string@hotmail.com  
  
Rating: it will probably be R eventually  
  
Parts 1 and 2  
  
story summary: This takes place near the end of Rory's senior year. There are some spoilers in it. Rory and Jess' relationship takes a serious turn, but they have to be careful in order to avoid heartbreak Pairs involved: Mostly Rory/Jess, maybe some Luke/Lorelai later  
  
Part 1  
  
Honey Pie  
  
You are Making me Crazy  
  
I'm in Love but I'm Lazy  
  
So won't you please come home?  
  
Rory Gilmore grinned hearing the vaudeville styled Beatles tune emanating from the newly opened Soda Shoppe. She shook her head, imagining how irate Luke must be about the level of volume. Thankfully, calming Luke and listening to his angry rants about Taylor's behavior wasn't generally Rory's responsibility. At least not anymore; not since she and Jess had gotten together. Now it was her mother's job to handle Luke, and Rory's job to keep Jess in check. Not that he'd needed much supervision lately; he'd mostly given up his hoodlum-like tendencies since that day in November when they'd decided to be together. He'd been far too busy spending time with Rory to smoke or drink or wreak his usual havoc.  
  
Walking into the diner, Rory knew she'd been right about Luke's rant.  
  
"It's not that it's a bad song or anything," he was explaining to Lorelai, whose eyes were following the coffee pot in his hand as cats eyes follow dust particles in the air. "It's just that I don't want to be hearing it through the wall at 8 o'clock in the morning. It never stops! It's on all day! I mean, am I right or am I right?" he looked at Lorelai expectantly, but she didn't reply. Her eyes were fixed intently on the coffee pot. Luke snapped in front of her eyes to end the trance. "Lorelai?"  
  
"What? I mean- yes, exactly. I completely agree! Let's-burn him at the stake!" she sighed and waited for Luke's expression to change. Seeing he was unimpressed she added. "Damn Taylor with his- his MUSIC."  
  
Rory sat in the chair next to her mother with a smile and whispered, "Nice try mom."  
  
"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed. "you're here! Tell him you find Taylor's music aggravating and disruptive to the diner's usually music free atmosphere!" Lorlelai leaned towards her daughter's ear and added under her breath. "Do it quick or he'll taunt you with the coffee pot."  
  
Rory chuckled. "Actually, I don't mind it. It's not like he's playing annoying music or anything. It's certainly an improvement on "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer." Besides this is a great song. It's the Beatles. You have to love the Beatles. It's the law."  
  
Luke shook his head. "Yeah whatever. Rory would you go upstairs and get James Dean out of bed already? I'm starting to worry. It's 10:30. I mean what is he? Hibernating?"  
  
Rory chuckled and headed for the stairs. "I'm on it." she turned back to Luke. "And for the love of God, give my mother some coffee! Look at her! She's ready to tackle you for it."  
  
*******  
  
Jess opened his bedroom window and the music from next door filled the room. It was an unusually warm May this year, and in the upstairs apartment with no air conditioning, he needed the windows open. He didn't mind the music though. It was better than Taylor's usual musical taste.  
  
He reached over to his bedside table and opened the top drawer, pulling out a little photo album. He felt almost embarrassed, even though he was alone, to be doing what he was, but the moment his eyes fell on the first picture of Rory in the book, his embarrassment disappeared. He'd been collecting some miscellaneous pictures of her since they'd gotten together, and he kept them all in that book. He wasn't the type to put the pictures in frames all over the room. But he couldn't help how much he liked looking at them. So he kept them all in one easy access, private place. He went through them one by one taking his time, remembering the days they came from. The picture he'd taken of her with a disposable camera sticking out her tongue; the picture Lane had taken of them and the snowman Rory had somehow convinced him to help her make; the picture he'd taken of her wearing the bright blue wig they'd found at a vintage clothing store. But before he could move on to the others, he heard the door open. He quickly closed the book and put it back into the drawer before Rory opened the door to his room.  
  
"Good morning you Lazy Punk," she said with a smile, walking towards the bed. He smiled at her.  
  
"Same to you, annoying energetic early bird." He moved over on the bed. "have a seat."  
  
Rory sat on the side of the bed. "Hey; how bad would you say your morning breath is this particular morning?" she asked. Jess chuckled.  
  
"Are you implying that you wouldn't like me as much if my breath weren't constantly minty fresh?"  
  
"Yes that is exactly what I'm saying," Rory smiled with sarcasm. "How bad is it?"  
  
"No worries. I brushed my teeth already. Why do you ask? Did you have something in mind?"  
  
"Yes; a morning full of breath smelling."  
  
Jess laughed and sat up towards her, muttering, "Sarcastic book worm." Rory giggled and kissed him quickly.  
  
"I resent that. You are a sarcastic book worm too."  
  
"well then I guess we're just perfectly suited huh?"  
  
"Yeah I guess so." She chuckled as Jess took his face in her hands and kissed her again, but they were interrupted by the sound of pounding on the apartment door.  
  
"I don't know what's going on in there," Lorelai called through the door, "but I hear giggly noises and something that sounds like someone chewing gum really loudly, so I better see one of you downstairs in 60 seconds or I'll send Luke up with a baseball bat!"  
  
Jess looked at Rory, confused. "Did that make any sense to you?"  
  
"Luke's got her on a coffee withdrawal. I doubt it made sense even to her." Rory stood up. "I should go down there. I'd rather not have Luke beat you with a baseball bat. The bruises would look gross, and if you're not pretty anymore you're no use to me at all." She headed for the door, but stopped short when she heard his voice.  
  
"Go to the prom with me?"  
  
Rory stopped in her tracks and could barely bring herself to turn around. Every once in a while he would have these moments, when he sounded so completely vulnerable to her. It was flattering and amazing when he did that. but also far too familiar to her. Rory realized in those moments just how vulnerable she was to him too. And it scared her. She turned around, and saw him looking at her, sitting on the edge of the bed, trying so hard to keep his cool. But his eyes; they were so intense. That's what she was powerless against; his eyes.  
  
"Of course I'll go," she said. She then added, trying to cover up the girlish, swoon-y sound in her voice, "I mean, what girl in her right mind would pass up the chance to see you try to dance in a tuxedo?"  
  
Jess chuckled. "Don't count on the dancing, all right?" she grinned at him.  
  
"We'll book you some lessons at Miss Patty's. I should go before Luke gets the baseball bat." She headed for the door. "See you downstairs!"  
  
She walked down the stairs slowly, trying to wipe the insane grin off of her face. She knew she must look ridiculous and her happiness was completely readable. But she felt like she was walking on air.  
  
***********  
  
"Hey, Rory, how old is this thing in the aluminum foil in the fridge?"  
  
Rory walked out of her room. "What do you mean? What is it?"  
  
"Hey I asked you first," Lorelai replied.  
  
"Thank goodness my mother is so mature," Rory said with a sarcastic smile, sitting at the kitchen table. "Just open it and see what it is."  
  
"Why can't you just tell me how old it is?"  
  
"Because I don't know what it is. For all I know there could be a year old piece of cheesecake in there, or it could be something from two days ago. But you know how we could find out really easily?"  
  
"Um, by leaving it outside in hopes that some small furry animal will unwrap it and we'll go out tomorrow and see what it is?"  
  
"yeah, or you could call Miss Cleo and ask her. She knows everything, you know."  
  
"You know sometimes I think that I may have raised a sarcastic child."  
  
"And sometimes I think my mother would probably get along best with preschoolers. Just open the thing."  
  
"But what if it's old?"  
  
"Then it will jump out and bite you, because everybody knows you never open mysterious tin foil covered objects in the fridge because it might take on a life of its own and attack you."  
  
"Ok I am decidedly ending this ridiculous conversation by throwing away the mystery food." Lorelai tossed it into the trash.  
  
"Now was that really so hard?" Rory asked with a smile.  
  
Lorelai sighed. "You are SO in charge of cleaning out the refridgerator from now on until forever." Rory chuckled and opened up the newspaper, starting to read. Lorelai watched her daughter curiously. Ever since that morning, she'd been acting. different. She had this weird glow. And she couldn't stop smiling. Of course, Lorelai was generally used to this; Rory always had that look after she'd seen Jess. But usually it went away within a couple hours; today it was constant, and much more intense than usual.  
  
"Hey Rory hun?" Lorelai said, sitting across the table from her.  
  
"No I will not fish through the trash and open the mystery foil covered food for you," Rory replied automatically, not even looking up from her page.  
  
Lorelai sighed. "I was SO not gonna ask you that."  
  
"Sure you weren't," Rory replied sarcastically, and turned the page.  
  
"Seriously, Ror," Lorelai started, waving her hand in front of her eyes to catch her attention. "I need your attention for a minute, cuz I have a legitimate question for you."  
  
"Ok," rory said, looking up at her mother. "I'm all ears. Shoot."  
  
Lorelai giggled. "What is up with you today?"  
  
Rory looked confused. "What do you mean?"  
  
"What do I mean?" Lorelai stood up and proceeded to imitate Rory, quite badly, in a high pitched breathy voice. "Hi, I'm Rory, I've been walking around in a daze all day long with a goofy smile on my face and I blush every time somebody mentions my boyfriend's name-"  
  
"Oh my God, stop it would you?" Rory cut her off, pulling her by the arm back into her seat. "I maintain my theory about your compatibility with preschoolers."  
  
Lorelai giggled, "Seriously, babe, what's going on? You've been all smiley ever since this morning. What'd he do, propose?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Rory retorted. "We're eloping next weekend."  
  
"Ok that's it!" Lorelai said. "I hereby ban sarcastic comments from this house. until further notice because eventually I'll run out of non- sarcastic things to say." She paused. "Now tell me, seriously, because you live here, and I will find out."  
  
Rory sighed. "He asked me to go to the prom with him."  
  
Lorelai's heart melted. She hadn't liked Jess at first, but when she realized how much her daughter cared about him she'd warmed up to him, and pretty much gotten used to him. She didn't have the same kind of comfortable relationship with him that she'd had with Dean, but she was used to him, and he knew he was welcome in her house. He came over for movie night sometimes and was becoming sort of a regular addition to the Gilmore household, just like Lane and Sookie were.  
  
But she hadn't ever given much thought to how serious his relationship with Rory was. She'd sort of assumed that Jess and Rory did their book-worm-y stuff together, and occasionally kissed, but for some reason, she never would have thought that he was so serious about his feelings for Rory. And for some reason, imagining Jess working himself up to ask her daughter to the prom? He might as well have told her he loved her.  
  
"What?" Rory asked. "What's wrong? Say something, mom, you freak me out when you're silent! You're never silent."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Oh, hon, I am so happy for you!"  
  
Rory looked confused. "You are?"  
  
Lorelai chuckled. "Well yeah! I mean, do you realize how much this means?"  
  
Rory guessed. "It means I get to wear a really pretty dress and listen to bad music in a gym for 4 hours?"  
  
"It means you must be really important to that boy. I mean stop a second and think about Jess. Bad boy, rebel, does whatever he wants to, will do nothing that seems even remotely cheesy to him-"  
  
"Yeah, Jess, my boyfriend, I vaguely remember him. what's your point?"  
  
Lorelai laughed. "Try your hardest to imagine him going to the prom last year."  
  
Rory paused a minute. and soon began giggling. "He looks pretty silly and he's trying to spike the punch."  
  
"Exactly!" Lorelai paused and used a more serious tone. "Rory, that kid would not go to the prom if he didn't really, REALLY care about you."  
  
Rory sat for a moment and considered these words, and knew that they were true. She and her mother didn't have to say anything, but they both knew what the other was thinking.  
  
Jess is in love with Rory.  
  
**************  
  
"Are you renting a tux, or does Luke have one stashed up in his closet for God knows what reason?"  
  
Jess rolled his eyes at Lorelai and chuckled. "Luke in a tux? Yeah I'd pay a lot of money to see that. He doesn't own one. I'm renting."  
  
"Oh no Mom," Rory said. "We must warn him."  
  
"Warn me? Warn me about what?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "I really hate to have to be the one to tell you this, kid," she began, popping a mini-marshmallow into her mouth, "But there's a guy in town who frequently rents tuxes and has been known to go commando in them." Rory giggled at her mother.  
  
"And on that note," Jess said, taking another piece of pizza from the box, "I will be renting from a store out of town."  
  
"Wow, cute AND smart," Lorelai said to Rory, "You, my dear, have found yourself a good catch."  
  
Jess chuckled to himself. Movie night at the Gilmore house always guaranteed to be filled with interesting, and occasionally nonsensical, conversations. The movie, conspiracy theory, had been over now for about 15 minutes, but the pizza had arrived late so they remained there on the couch, eating pizza and junk food and talking about nothing. Jess had been over for movie night with Rory and Lorelai several times since he and Rory had gotten together, but he'd sensed that for the past couple weeks, Lorelai had been acting different towards him. And not in a bad way. She was being even nicer to him than before, giving him the benefit of the doubt, treating him more like her own friend, like she did with Lane, than her daughter's boyfriend. And Jess really liked it.  
  
Rory, though, had been acting different too. And with her, Jess couldn't really tell if this new behavior was an improvement, or a developing problem. Ever since that day he'd asked her to the prom, she'd been obviously very pleased, and excited about it. But she always got uncomfortable when they were kissing. at least, when they did it in private. It was understandable, he supposed. He had trouble controlling himself around her. But she was more skiddish than usual, and the big problem was that she was denying the fact that anything was different. Jess wasn't that worried. He knew Rory had every right to freak out every once in a while; she had gone out on a major limb when she'd decided to be with him, and she had given up a lot, and risked everything. He couldn't help smiling at this thought. He'd never meant enough to anyone in his life for them to make any sacrifices on his behalf. But here is Stars Hollow, both Rory and Luke had done that. Maybe that was the big perk of small town life.  
  
As movie night came to a close, Lorelai excused herself, and not all too subtly, and went to bed, leaving Rory and Jess to say good night alone. They headed out onto the porch, knowing that Lorelai had a nasty habit of eavesdropping on conversations in the living room. Before either one said a word, Jess pulled her gently toward him and kissed her. It was more gentle than passionate, but even so, after a few moments, Rory pulled herself away.  
  
"Wow," she said, playing off the awkward silence. "That was um. nice." She avoided Jess' gaze, and sat down on the bench near the door. Jess turned toward her. "Alright," he said. "What's the deal?"  
  
Rory tried to play innocent. "What? I don't know what you're talking about." Unfortunately, playing innocent was not one of Rory's strong points.  
  
"Come on, Rory. If there are any two people in the world you can't fool or lie to, it's your mother and me. What's up with you?" he sighed and finally let his vulnerability show, which he seldom did. "Why are you pulling away from me like this?"  
  
Rory looked up when she heard the last phrase. His voice was different; softer, but also realer. No more attitude, no sarcastic wit, no image to uphold. Just Jess. She sighed. "Ok," she said, "You're right. I can't lie to you. I'm sorry." She paused. Jess sat next to her on the bench. She broke the awkward silence tentatively. "I don't want to pull away like that, if it's any consolation," she said. "I mean, it's not like there's anything wrong with the kissing. In fact, there is nothing wrong with the kissing. The kissing is good, with you. I mean, it's great. Better than great. Amazing. Hurray for- you and I and the kissing." Jess chuckled.  
  
"So the kissing's ok?" he asked sarcastically. "'Cuz you really didn't make yourself clear."  
  
Rory didn't laugh. "I just." she began nervously, staring at her hands. "I just don't really trust myself around you anymore." she stopped and buried her face in her hands. "I cannot believe I am saying this to you!"  
  
Jess took her hands from her face gently. "hey," he said quietly. "Come here." He lifted her chin and kissed her softly on the lips before replying, "I don't trust myself around you either. If that's any consolation."  
  
Rory smiled a little, but still felt tense. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I mean. we can't stop the kissing, because the kissing is something I think we both really enjoy."  
  
"I concur. I completely and totally concur."  
  
"But at the same time, this same good, enjoyable kissing. really makes me want more." she trailed off. Jess sighed and looked at the ground in front of him; he had the feeling that she was about to give him the classic, 'We need to slow things down a little' speech. He never expected to hear her timid voice say, "But then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing."  
  
He looked up and met her gaze. She looked confused, almost surprised at the words that had just come out of her mouth. But she didn't look upset, or tense anymore. He didn't know what to say or think. "Are you saying- I mean, are you telling me what I think you're telling me? 'cuz I-"  
  
"I don't know, Jess," she said, standing up. "I just. I mean, I have to think about this." She suddenly seemed flustered, and hurried, but still not upset. More like. surprised, relieved, and even, dare he say it, excited. She rushed to the door, went inside and slammed the door behind her. "Rory?" Jess said, standing up, contemplating whether or not to follow her. He was completely bewildered; he didn't know if any of this was good or bad.  
  
Moments later, the door reopened, and Rory stuck her head out with a smile. She ran to him and kissed him quickly before saying, "Bye Jess!" and running back inside. Jess sighed. 'Ok,' he thought, 'This is good. This is definitely good.'  
  
************  
  
"Ok so what exactly are you saying to me?" Lane asked Rory with a smirk.  
  
"Gee could you talk a little louder? Because I really want all of Stars Hollow to know about this," Rory said quietly. The two of them were walking through Doose's market, trying to secretly get Lane something sugary before heading back to Rory's house for a movie. Rory was going to try and tell Lane at her house, but she couldn't guarantee that her mother wouldn't be there to "overhear" their conversation.  
  
"Well God, I'm sorry Rory, but when you speak all cryptic like that, it allows a girl's imagination to wander, and when this girl's imagination wanders to the places I think you're trying to steer it, she has trouble controlling her volume!"  
  
"Just try and keep it down ok?" Rory pleaded. "I promise I'll cut it with the mystery, just try and be discreet about this? I mean God knows where Miss Patty's informers are lurking around this place."  
  
Lane sighed. "Ok. Start over, and be explicit about it!"  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok." She gathered herself and tried her hardest to look as though the subject of their conversation was the least interesting thing in the world. "So I was talking to Jess the other day-"  
  
"Alone or in public?"  
  
"Alone. We were on the porch, my mom was in bed. Anyways. you know how he asked me to prom?"  
  
Lane pouted. "Yes, I know, and I'm extremely jealous that your mother is actually letting you go. Dave wants to take me but we're still trying to figure out a fool proof way to convince Mama Kim that I'm actually going with somebody else-"  
  
"Lane!" Rory said. "Focus, please."  
  
"Right. Sorry. Jess asked you to the prom and.?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I don't know, ever since he did. it's just painfully obvious to me that now this is more than just a high school romance, you know? It's serious. REALLY serious. But once I realized that, I started feeling like. it just got MUCH harder to control myself when I was alone with him. And I talked to him, and he said he felt the same way."  
  
"Ok," Lane said, anxious. "I'm with you so far, continue."  
  
"I wasn't completely sure at first, but I've been thinking about it for a couple days now and I've made a very serious decision."  
  
Lane stared blankly at Rory for a couple moments before her eyes began to widen and her lips parted in an excited smile. "Oh My God, are you saying-? 'Cuz if you're saying-. What are you saying?"  
  
Rory took a deep breath and grinned. "I'm ready."  
  
The girls hugged with a squeal. "I am so jealous," Lane swooned as they rounded the corner into the candy aisle. "It's so classic! Bad boy meets good girl, entraps her in his world, they fall in love; God I bet he's an amazing kisser. Is he?"  
  
"Is who what?" The girls turned to see a curious Dean stalking shelves with a slight smile. The both looked shocked and wide eyed. Lane tried to smile and play it cool, but Rory couldn't look Dean in the eye. She just kept thinking how close he'd been to overhearing the whole thing, and how much that would have hurt him.  
  
"What's the matter?" he said with a nervous chuckle. "You guys look like you've just been caught red handed. Did I interrupt some girl talk or something?"  
  
Lane tried to cover for Rory. "Oh yeah!" she lied awfully. "Just girl talk, you know. Brad Pitt this, Lifetime that. Girl talk."  
  
"Well sorry to interrupt," he said. His eyes shifted to Rory. "Movie night tonight?"  
  
Rory snapped out of her trance. "What?" she asked.  
  
Dean gestured to the bag of videos in her hand. "The movies. What's the feature presentation this evening?"  
  
"Oh," Rory said, obviously uncomfortable. "Um, Outbreak. The one with that virus that's like- unstoppable and somehow a monkey is responsible. I don't know, we caught the end on cable a couple weeks ago, and it confused us, so we decided to see the beginning and try to figure it out."  
  
"I see," Dean said, obviously sensing Rory's discomfort. He added awkwardly, "Who's coming tonight?"  
  
Lane spoke for Rory, seeing clearly that Rory was flustered. "Oh just me, and maybe Lorelai depending on how early she gets back from the inn. It'll be a fun evening full of girl talk. plus killer monkies and flesh eating viruses and Morgan Freeman."  
  
Dean chuckled. "Well, have fun. And uh, take another bag of M&M's, there's a two for one sale today."  
  
Rory forced a smile. "Thanks Dean. See ya."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Lane and Rory headed to the counter to pay for the food. Even though Rory felt awful about Dean, within minutes she had completely forgotten. Her mind was completely occupied with the idea that she was ready to be with Jess. She hadn't spoken to him in a couple of days, what with school and everything, and she knew he must be going crazy. But she'd tell him soon enough.  
  
******************  
  
Holy Shit, he thought.  
  
This was the absolute embodiment of his worst nightmare.  
  
Jess stood in front of his mirror wearing his rented tux. It was ridiculous. He'd put on the whole thing at first, and it took approximately .003 seconds to decide it would not do. He nixed the tie, and the weird thing around his waist, and he tried unbuttoning the shirt a little. But he still looked like the most uncomfortable person on earth. The phone rang, and he sighed. 'That'd better be Rory,' He thought, 'I am in serious need of a reminder of why I'm doing all of this.'  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey there, Dodger." Rory was nervous, and she knew Jess could hear it in her voice, but she couldn't help it.  
  
A slight irrepressible smile played on Jess' lips. "Well if it isn't little miss kiss-and-run," he joked.  
  
Rory giggled. "I resent that! I don't ALWAYS run away after." she paused. "I'm pretty sure there's been a couple times I haven't-"  
  
"No worries, Rory. It adds to your aura of mystery. You know what they say, always leave them wanting more."  
  
"Really? According to my mom, what they always say is 'Wherever you go, there you are'."  
  
Jess laughed. "Slightly irrelevant."  
  
"Yes, but also always true in every situation."  
  
Jess sighed. "So. long time no see. What've you been up to?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Thinking," she said. "Lot's and lots of deep thinking. and it paid off because I had a revelation."  
  
Jess' heart jumped. He had a feeling he knew what was going on. "Did you really? Care to enlighten me?"  
  
"Sure thing," Rory said. "Meet me at the bridge at 7:30." And before Jess could say a word, she'd hung up. He shook his head with a smile.  
  
"Always leave them wanting more."  
  
********************  
  
PART 2:  
  
I never cared much for moonlit skies  
  
I never wink back at fireflies  
  
But now that the stars are in your eyes  
  
I'm beginning to see the light.  
  
Rory hummed along to the Ella Fitzgerald CD as she spritzed on some vanilla scented perfume. It was almost 7 and soon she'd have to leave to go meet Jess at the bridge. Half of her was nervous; she had to tell him something that was embarrassing and awkward. But then the other half of her. the other half was absolutely in heaven.  
  
Lorelai peered into the room with a girlish smile.  
  
"Whatchya doin'?"  
  
Rory smiled, rolling her eyes. "I'm getting ready to go meet Jess, Mom."  
  
Lorelai giggled. "Well aren't you just the cutest thing I've ever seen," she said with a fake southern accent.  
  
Rory took her focus off the mirror and walked over to her mother. "Ok, mom, cut it out. You're starting to sound like Delta Burke and it's freaking me out."  
  
Lorelai sat on Rory's bed. "Well gee, sorry, Crabby Mc-Crab-er-son."  
  
Rory smiled, amused. "Creative, mom."  
  
"Thank you, I like to think so." Lorelai watched as her daughter got out some silvery eye shadow that matched the silver design on her blue shirt. "So what's the special occasion? It can't be an anniversary. Your anniversary is on the 14th of the month. Today's the 21st."  
  
Rory put down the eye shadow. "Ok suddenly I'm very frightened of the fact that you seem to know almost as much about my love life as I do."  
  
"Yes well, being the over-the-hill old maid that I am, I've got no life, which of course leaves me with nothing to do except live vicariously through you. When you leave me after college I'll die of boredom."  
  
Rory fished through a drawer in her desk. "No you won't. You'll have Luke to entertain you, and we're getting Cinemax next month so you can live vicariously through hundreds of characters in hundreds of movies who probably have slightly more exciting lives than mine." She handed her mother a brush. "Would you mind fixing my hair?"  
  
"Of course not, babe." Lorelai stood and began brushing through her daughter's long hair. "So seriously, what's the special occasion?"  
  
"There is no special occasion. Why would there be?"  
  
Lorelai laughed. "Uh, because."  
  
"Wonderful argument, Mom, you should be on a debate team."  
  
"Rory, if there's no special occasion, why are you getting yourself all fancy schmancy and putting on makeup and all that girly stuff?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I'm going to see my boyfriend. Call me old fashioned, but I was raised to believe that one shouldn't want to look like the wicked witch of the west before a date."  
  
"Honey, you see Jess everyday. In fact, you tend to see him in the mornings because he lives where the happy coffee is, and he supplies you with it. Therefore, this means Jess has seen you at your very worst hours; the hours which come after being woken at 5:30 AM and before your semi-daily coffee treatments. You could be wearing a paper bag and clown makeup and Jess would probably still like you."  
  
"Yeah well the paper bag's in the wash, and what can I tell you? Clown makeup just tends to run more expensive than Sephora."  
  
"If there's nothing special happening then what's with the music?"  
  
"What's wrong with the music? It's Ella. I'm in a very Ella-ish mood."  
  
"No, my friend, it is common knowledge in this house that all of the following qualify as romantic, pre-special-date music: Frank Sinatra, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, The Chicago soundtrack, Nora Jones, and ELLA FITZGERALD!!!!!"  
  
"How did the Chicago soundtrack work its way into that mix?"  
  
"It's a musical. Full of happy lovey dovey musical songs."  
  
"It's about women who are in jail for murdering their husbands."  
  
"Hush little one." Lorelai handed the brush back to her daughter.  
  
Rory sighed. "Mom, there is no special occasion. I just haven't seen Jess in a couple days and. I don't know. I guess I kinda miss him."  
  
"Awwwww!" Lorelai taunted. "Isn't it just so dreamy? You're so lucky to have a steady like Jess! I bet he likes to- hold hands and-take you on picnics and- tell you how pretty you are-"  
  
Rory lead her mother to the door. "Ok that's it. I am hereby banishing you to the living room until further notice!"  
  
"What? But- but I-!"  
  
The door closed. Lorelai stuck out her bottom lip and went into the living room to channel surf. Rory sighed and turned up her music with a smile.  
  
****************  
  
"Luke I'm outta here!" Jess called, throwing his apron towards the stairs.  
  
"Where ya' goin'?" Luke asked, pouring coffee for a customer.  
  
Jess rolled his eyes. "I gotta meet Rory, if you must know."  
  
Luke looked at him, suspicious. "Somethin' goin' on with you two? She hasn't been by in a couple days."  
  
"Oh, trouble in lover's paradise?" asked Miss Patty, sitting nearby with Babette.  
  
Jess winced. This was unbearable, cruel humiliation. "No, nothing's wrong, but something will be if I don't show up on time. Can I just go?"  
  
Luke nodded. "Just come back earlier than you did last time!"  
  
********************  
  
As Jess walked up to the bridge, he could already see Rory sitting at the middle, her legs dangling over the side. She hadn't brought a book. She was just staring into the water. 'She looks so amazing,' he thought to himself, before laughing at his own sappy thoughts. She was totally ruining his image. But he just couldn't seem to care.  
  
His footsteps on the wood snapped Rory out of her daydreams. She looked up, saw him, and smiled before standing up.  
  
"Hey," Jess said, still walking. "Sorry I'm late, Luke-" he didn't get a chance to finish before Rory grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. He loved it when she did that. After a few moments she pulled away with a smile to see a dazed look on Jess' face.  
  
"Whoa," he said. "And that was for.?"  
  
Rory's fingers played with the collar of his denim jacket. "Consider that my apology for not calling you the past few days."  
  
"Well you're completely forgiven," he said, leaning in for another kiss. However, as the passion grew, he had to pull away. "Hold on a second, just let me ask this before I get too caught up. Can I assume that your issues with the "enjoyable kissing", as you put it, have passed?"  
  
"Yeah." Rory smiled slyly. "I guess you could say that." She leaned in for another kiss, but Jess stopped her.  
  
"Hold on," he said. "You're being cryptic again. What's going on?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I guess it's confession time now, huh?" Jess nodded. She held his hands and tried to work up the courage to say something that would change their relationship forever. Once those words were out, there was no turning back. She sighed, and looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "Could we maybe just try and carry on a regular conversation for a bit? It's just- it's too awkward-"  
  
"Enough said," Jess laced his fingers through hers. "We'll sit. We'll talk. No problem."  
  
They sat on the side of the bridge, facing one another. Jess tried to break the awkward silence. "So, I'm thinking about trying the Fountainhead again."  
  
Rory sighed, relieved, with a smile, and fell comfortably into their usual banter.  
  
"You'll be the better for it, I promise you," Rory said.  
  
"Yeah sure," Jess said with sarcasm.  
  
"What? You don't trust me? How can you not? I've been told I have a very trustworthy look about me."  
  
"Yeah well I should know better than anybody that your looks aren't all there is to you."  
  
Rory smiled. "So I have a story to tell you, and I've been wanting to tell you for the past couple days."  
  
"Really? It must be a good one, then."  
  
"Well you'll just have to listen and see. So remember how the other day my mom was telling you about the tuxedo rumor? Well I remembered that wedding last month, when I was talking to Kirk at the inn, and I realized; Kirk is a frequent renter of tuxes, and when I think about it, Kirk certainly does seem to be constantly lacking underwear lines-"  
  
"I love you."  
  
Jess had been laughing, and said it so casually, that Rory almost continued on with her story without even noticing what he'd said. But she did notice, and her eyes went wide. There was a prolonged silence before either one of them said anything. Jess tried to cover up his embarrassment. "Whoa, I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to let that come out- I mean-! I didn't mean to say that, I just-"  
  
Rory smiled. "Jess, it's ok." She paused. "I love you too."  
  
The silence was awkward, but not altogether unpleasant. It was relieving; satisfying. Jess finally gave in. "Hey," he said softly, "come here." Taking her face in his hands he kissed her, and for the first time in weeks, it was completely perfect. Neither one of them had to pull away, nothing was forced, or awkward. After a few minutes, Jess began kissing Rory's neck, and suddenly Rory didn't feel as scared to tell Jess about her decision.  
  
"I'm ready," she blurted out. Jess halted mid-kiss.  
  
"Ready for what?"  
  
Rory blushed a little, avoiding his eyes. "For. YOU KNOW WHAT." she glanced at him to see if he caught her meaning, and from the shocked look in his eyes, it was pretty clear that he did. "Well," she sighed. "Why don't we just revel in this new awkward silence for a while?" she giggled nervously to cover up her embarrassment.  
  
"Are you sure?" Jess was totally bewildered. He'd had a feeling that Rory was considering this, but when she was sitting right in front of him, saying that she really was ready, it was just completely overwhelming. "I mean, are you totally, completely, 100 percent, final answer on who wants to be a millionaire, really sure?"  
  
Rory laughed a little. If there was anything in the world she could count on, it was the sarcastic wit her friends always seemed to voice at the perfect moments to make her less nervous. "Come on, would I seriously have just said that aloud to you if I weren't really sure? You saw me the other day when I was trying to tell you that I wanted you. I buried my face in my hands for god's sake, you KNOW I'd be a total wreck right now if I hadn't thought this through thoroughly."  
  
Jess smirked. "And made pro and con lists."  
  
Rory's eyes widened. "I did not- I-!" she sighed. "You know me way too well." They sat in silence for a while, staring at the creek they'd so often met by.  
  
"So what does this mean?" Jess asked. "Do you have to- I don't know, get pills and all that preparatory- stuff, I mean- what do we do know?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I don't know. I mean. I don't wanna do it RIGHT NOW." she sighed. "The moment has to be right, ya' know?" Jess smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I know. It's a big deal." He smiled slyly. "So you just let me know whenever it IS right, and I'll drop everything." And on that note, they spent the rest of the evening kissing, and laughing. It felt so right, knowing that everything was gonna work out ok. Around 9:30, they started walking back to Rory's house, Jess' arm lovingly draped over Rory's shoulders. It was that perfect climate just before Summer really starts, when everything's warm, but the breeze tickles your skin and sends tingles up your spine. When they reached Rory's door, they shared another kiss, and exchanged I Love You's one more time before parting. It was almost too perfect. They should have known that nothing that perfect stays that way for long.  
  
Rory walked into her room in a daze. Her mother had fallen asleep on the couch, obviously having tried to wait up for her. But Rory didn't want to wake her up and talk right now. She'd talk to her in the morning, no doubt.  
  
She was so happy she was barely even concerned about how weird it was going to be, keeping this all a secret from her mother. She'd contemplated telling her about it, after she made her decision, but decided against it. Lorelai was just starting to really like Jess. This close to graduation, Lorelai was NOT going to "let Jess jeopardize her future", as Lane had put it. Maybe a couple months into the summer, once graduation was all over and done with, she would tell a slight fib and tell her mother she'd been considering it. Then she could go on the pill, and be totally safe about it all. However it turned out with her mom, the night with Jess left Rory with a sense that no matter what happened, everything would be alright. She changed into her pajamas and turned on her David Gray CD.  
  
This year's love had better last Heaven knows it's high time And I've been waiting on my own too long But when you hold me like you do It feels so right I start to forget How my heart gets torn When that hurt gets thrown Feeling like you can't go on  
  
Turning circles when time again It cuts like a knife oh yeah If you love me got to know for sure Cos it takes something more this time Than sweet sweet lies Before I open up my arms and fall Losing all control Every dream inside my soul And when you kiss me On that midnight street Sweep me off my feet Singing ain't this life so sweet  
  
This years love had better last This years love had better last  
  
So who's to worry If our hearts get torn When that hurt gets thrown Don't you know this life goes on And won't you kiss me On that midnight street Sweep me off my feet Singing ain't this life so sweet  
  
This years love had better last This years love had better last This years love had better last This years love had better last  
  
  
  
******************  
  
Lorelai shook Rory awake gently. "Rory, hon?"  
  
Rory rolled over grumpily. "What do you want, crazy lady?"  
  
Lorelai giggled. "Well let's see. there's a lot of stuff. Money, true love, world peace, and I always wanted a pony, but I should probably ask for a barn too 'cuz where else would we keep Napoleon?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Napoleon?"  
  
"That's the pony's name."  
  
"Mom, what do you want?"  
  
"Well besides all that other stuff, I'd want my daughter not to be skipping school for the second time on Jess's account."  
  
Rory sat up. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You did it once last year, and you almost overslept today because you two were out so late last night." Lorelai stood and headed for the kitchen. "No worries, breakfast is on the table, along with coffee, and your uniform is wrinkle free and hanging in the bathroom. You got half an hour to get out the door. I'm warning you, don't be late again; they might make you sit on a stool in the corner with a big pointy hat that says "Dunce" on it, and they'll make you sit inside during recess. What a drag THAT would be..." Lorelai walked out and Rory reluctantly stood up and headed to the bathroom to shower. After the hot water woke her up, all her memories of the night before came rushing back. How Jess had said he loved her; how she'd said it back, never having to wonder if she really meant it or not; how she'd told him she was ready; and most of all, how great he'd been about it. He'd kissed her; it always felt good when he kissed her, but last night it was better than their usual kisses. She always sensed in his kisses the fact that he WANTED her. in a physical way. But now that she was just within his reach, it was less of an urgent lust and more like. absolute ecstasy.  
  
But now came the tough part; waiting. Rory had a particular time in mind when she thought it would be perfect. but now that they both knew they were just waiting, it could be potentially torturous. not to mention awkward. She tried not to worry about it too much, and just focus on school until the end of the day. But as she got to school, and tried to pay attention in class, she just found herself daydreaming constantly. and not about good things. What if he didn't want to wait? What if he turned out to be one of those guys who refused to wear protection? No, Jess may have questionable grades, but he was anything but stupid. He wouldn't do that. But then what if someone found out after they did it? And what if word got around to her mother?  
  
"Hello? Earth to Rory!" Rory looked up and saw Paris' impatient face staring down at her. Looking around, Rory saw all her classmates headed out the door to the hallway. The bell had rung and she'd barely even noticed.  
  
"What is up with you today?" Paris continued. "You're like some ditzy character on Dawson's creek day dreaming about her dreamy boyfriend."  
  
Rory sighed, standing up to walk to Spanish class with Paris. "It wasn't too noticeable, was it?"  
  
"Oh please," Paris retorted. "You've walked straight into three people today, one of them being a teacher. You kept getting the answers wrong in math; what's wrong? You're off your game. It's freaking me out. You're always the focused one."  
  
Rory forced a smile. "Well I will try extra hard during Spanish to take lots of notes and answer all the questions right if that would make you happy."  
  
Paris examined her face, looking for something. "What are you so worried about?"  
  
Rory tried to play innocent. "What are you talking about? I'm not worried about anything."  
  
Paris laughed. which, granted, was slightly out of character for her. "Who the hell are you fooling? It's written all over your face. Fess up!"  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Paris it's none of your business." They both headed into their Spanish class, where Rory proceeded to add three more 'What ifs' to her list of worries, and not even notice when her teacher asked her a question.  
  
***************  
  
  
  
Rory walked into Luke's greeted by the familiar banter between Luke and her mother.  
  
"Come on, you can't tell me you don't like a single flavor," Lorelai said as Luke reluctantly poured her a refill of coffee. "Not even rocky road or cookie dough. or fish food! Now that is a good flavor! All the grossly unhealthy things you can think of all mixed together in one big cardboard pint. Chocolate, ice cream, caramel, marshmallow-"  
  
"Oh God," Luke said, glaring at her. "Stop. You're gonna make me sick."  
  
Rory sat next to her mom on a stool by the bar. "Well please, if you're gonna be sick, have the courtesy to remove yourself from the customer's dining area."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Lorelai, I think your sarcasm's rubbed of on your daughter."  
  
"Sarcasm?" Lorelai asked. "What do you mean sarcasm? When have you ever known me to be sarcastic?"  
  
Luke ignored Lorelai and turned his attention to Rory. "You want coffee?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Luke how long have you known me?"  
  
"All your life."  
  
"Enough said."  
  
Luke poured, and handed the cup to Rory who gulped almost half of it down in one long sip.  
  
"Wow," Lorelai commented. "Long day, huh?"  
  
Rory nodded. "You have NO idea." Just as she was taking her second sip, she saw Jess rounding the corner into the diner from the stairwell. She nearly choked on her drink. Wide-eyed and inexplicably embarrassed, she put her cup down and stared at him. And though she wasn't sure why, he returned the same awkward, self-conscious stare.  
  
He took a few cautious steps toward the bar. "Hey!" he said, a little too enthusiastically.  
  
"Oh!" Rory said, feeling put on the spot. "I- um- I mean- Hi. there."  
  
Lorelai glanced at the two of them. "Wow," she remarked. "It is really time for you two to expand on your conversational vocabulary." Rory exchanged a knowing glance with Jess. "What happened between you two?" Lorelai continued. She snickered at her own humor, adding. "I mean, what? Did you walk in on each other naked or something? Cuz I have only known people to act the way you guys just did after they've seen each other-" Lorelai stopped short. Her eyes widened. Rory's stomach was in her throat. Jess's eyes widened.  
  
"You know," he said awkwardly. "I just remembered that I- forgot something upstairs."  
  
"Book?" Rory asked him, suggesting with her eyes that he'd better get lost.  
  
"Right," Jess said. "Bye." He bolted up the stairs.  
  
Lorelai was in a complete state of shock. Rory tried to fix things. "Mom? Are you ok?"  
  
"Well that depends," Lorelai responded, her eyes never leaving their fixed spot. "I'm not really sure, because I've never had a stroke before, but I'm pretty sure that this is what it feels like."  
  
"Mom-" Rory started, but Lorelai got up and walked away from the table. "Mom where are you going?"  
  
"Well," Lorelai said, "Unless you had your heart set on discussing this in front of the whole diner, I thought we might have this conversation someplace a little less public!"  
  
Rory stood and grabbed her mom's arm to pull her back. "Mom stop! There's no discussion to be had, ok?" she paused, and added quietly. "Nothing happened between me and Jess. I swear."  
  
Lorelai eyed her daughter, but couldn't seem to find any of the tell tale signs that meant Rory was lying. "Well then what's with the monosyllabic exchange back there? 'Cuz let me tell you that was chalk full of post sex awkwardness."  
  
Rory sighed. "Mom, it was nothing. Just." she sighed and lowered her voice. "Sit down. This is the kind of information I don't think Jess would want spread around town." Lorelai sat and eagerly listened. Rory took a deep breath and smiled. "He told me he loved me."  
  
Lorelai gasped. "WHAT!?!?!?!?!" Rory widened her eyes in warning. Lorelai slapped her hand over her mouth apologetically. "I'm sorry, that sort of called attention to us didn't it?"  
  
"You could say that, yeah," Rory replied. Lorelai's shocked expression faded into a smile.  
  
"Babe, that is so great," she said, more quietly this time. Rory smiled.  
  
"Well thank you. I thought so myself."  
  
"Well did you say it back this time?" Lorelai asked. Rory giggled.  
  
"Of course I did. I mean. I know with Dean I wasn't that sure, but- this is different. It's been several months, all without big serious fights or problems. I don't know, it just felt right. It was surprisingly easy to say to him."  
  
Lorelai giggled. "Awwww. How cute. It's like Happy Days! I mean, Jess does bear a remarkable resemblance to what's-his-face Fonzarelli!" Lorelai chuckled at her own joke. "What with his attitude, and the gelled hair and the-"  
  
"Ok Mom," Rory said. "I get it. Now could you maybe make an effort to be serious, please? Just for a little while, I promise."  
  
"I'm sorry hon," Lorelai said. "And please don't mistake my using humor as away to cover up for embarrassment as insensitivity." She sighed. "I'm sorry that I spazzed out on you like that. If I'd known it was just because he said those three words, I would never have acted that way. Really, I'm still kind of reeling from my temporary Emily-Gilmore-like behavior."  
  
Rory smiled. "It's ok, really."  
  
Lorelai grinned. "Good. Now I want details! How'd he do it, where, when, no need to say why, 'cuz I mean duh, look at you!"  
  
Rory went on to tell her mom the selective details, being very careful to leave out all talk of their plans for the near future. After a few minutes, Lorelai was satisfied, and somewhat giddy for her daughter, and before long she was on her way back to the inn for a special dinner. That was when Rory made her way upstairs.  
  
She found Jess, as usual, reading a book. She snuck in quietly and crept up behind him.  
  
"The fountainhead, huh?"  
  
Startled, Jess turned with a jump, then sighed. "Oh, it's you. Good. I mean- better you than your mom with a steak knife ready to kill me." He smiled awkwardly.  
  
"Yeah," Rory said. "I mean- I agree. It would be bad if my mother tried to kill you."  
  
Jess nodded. "So should I be watching my back for crazy women with steak knives? Or am I off the hook?"  
  
"You're off the hook. I told her nothing happened. I had to tell her- what you said last night, though."  
  
Jess looked shocked and confused. "You told her that I said I'd be ready to- to DO IT whenever you were? Have you lost it? I mean I know you're not the most sane of all people, but-"  
  
"No, Jess!" Rory said. "I told her. the OTHER thing you said."  
  
Jess' face relaxed. "Oh. You mean the thing I said about- about how I. you know, how I feel about you."  
  
"Yeah, that would be the thing I told her about." There was a prolonged awkward silence.  
  
"Rory?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?"  
  
"If not more."  
  
Jess tapped his fingers on his book nervously, and suddenly blurted out, "I really do love you. I mean, in case you didn't really think I meant it last night or something." Rory's gaze met his, and she smiled.  
  
"And I really do love you too. In case you didn't think I meant it."  
  
Jess smiled. "Why would I ever think that? You've never lied to me."  
  
Rory giggled. "Um, don't flip out or anything, but yeah I have. Several times."  
  
Jess laughed. "I'm aware, Rory. See that previous statement, we would call that sarcasm. Perhaps you're familiar with it."  
  
Rory pouted. "You know, most girls really don't appreciate it when their boyfriends make fun of them. Especially not right after they tell them they love them, it sort of-"  
  
"Rory?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
He kissed her, and they backed up to the wall. He moved on to her neck and Rory sighed. "It's nice to be back to our normal routine huh?" Jess chuckled in agreement. Rory continued. "No more awkward cautious kisses, no more worrying we're gonna get too caught up. I mean-"  
  
"Rory, come on."  
  
"Right. Sorry. I'll shut up." They went on kissing for a few more minutes before finally taking a break.  
  
"Hmm." Rory smiled. "That was nice." Jess laughed.  
  
"Yeah, you could say that."  
  
Rory sighed. "I feel much better now. I mean, before, I felt all icky and nervous. I mean- I don't know, seeing you, I felt like everyone could read on our faces 'They're gonna do it!' and then when my mom said what she said. it kinda freaked me out a little."  
  
"Well that's certainly understandable." He paused, and added cautiously, "So you're still sure that you wanna. you know."  
  
"Oh yeah! I mean- yes, definitely. I just. I gotta make sure my mom doesn't find out. She'd flip out."  
  
Jess smiled. "Ok, good. Cuz I'd just hate for your crazy mom to interfere in our relationship. at least, not anymore than she already has."  
  
Rory giggled. "She has not interfered that much-" she was interrupted by another kiss.  
  
"How soon before you have to get home?" Jess asked.  
  
Rory smiled. "Well I do have homework. but hey, it'll still be there in a few hours."  
  
"That's what I like to hear."  
  
*******************  
  
Lorelai let out a deep breath and turned to her daughter. "You nervous?"  
  
Rory smiled a taunting smile. "Why should I be nervous? You're the one who insisted on asking her."  
  
"No no! don't you go blaming this on me! It's for YOUR prom."  
  
"It was YOUR idea. I said I'd raise some money of my own, but you, I repeat, INSISTED on asking her."  
  
Lorelai pouted. "I gotta get myself a daughter who's stupid with a bad memory." She rang the doorbell to her parents' home, and waited for the door to open, no doubt by yet another completely different maid. And how right she was.  
  
"Hi," Lorelai tried to smile a comforting smile to the frightened looking frail woman who opened the door. "We're the daughter and the granddaughter." She paused, waiting for a response, but the maid looked even more scared. "We're here to rescue you from the wrath of Emily Gilmore," she added. The maid smiled slightly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry! Please come in." she spoke in a very quiet voice, but lowered it to a whisper for her next comment. "I was terrified when you said you were related. I was afraid maybe you had inherited more from Mrs. Gilmore than just her looks."  
  
Lorelai chuckled and turned to her daughter. "I like this one. I hope she stays." Rory rolled her eyes and looked to the maid.  
  
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Rory, and this is my mom, Lorelai."  
  
The maid smiled. "I'm Nora. Nice to meet you. Here, let me take your coats."  
  
As Nora was hanging Rory and Lorelai's jackets, Emily made her way to the door.  
  
"Oh Good! You're here!" Emily smiled at the two girls, then turned to Nora sharply and said, "It's almost 7 o'clock Nora. Do you remember what that means, or should I arrange to have it tattooed on your hand to remind you?"  
  
Nora gulped and looked at the floor. "Dinner will be ready at 7." And with that she scurried out of the room. Emily turned back to Lorelai and Rory.  
  
"Goodness that girl. I don't know what I'm going to do about her." She turned on her heel and headed towards the living room. The girls followed.  
  
Lorelai smiled, somewhat amused. "Well gee Mom she seemed perfectly nice to me. What's the problem?"  
  
Emily went to the table to get drinks. "What do you mean? Didn't you see the expression on her face? Ever since she got here she's had that look of disdain; she won't even look me in the eyes. It's completely disrespectful. Now what would you girls like to drink?"  
  
"Mom, are you kidding me?" Lorelai asked, with a look of complete confusion. "That's not a look of disdain or disrespect, that's the facial expression generally used by us humans to show terror!"  
  
Emily rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly, Lorelai, it certainly is not. Rory would you like a soda?"  
  
"Coke, please?"  
  
"Mom!" Lorelai started again. "I don't believe you don't see how scared she is of you! I mean seriously, next time she comes in, take a good look at her face, because I guarantee you it will more than slightly resemble the facial expression of a deer trapped in the headlights!"  
  
"Mom, please," Rory pleaded under her breath. "Just keep in mind that when one has a plan to ask someone for a really big favor, it's not really in one's best interest to start an argument with the aforementioned someone. Ok?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Damn. Why'd I have to get a smart kid?"  
  
"Champagne, Lorelai?" Emily asked. Lorelai plastered a fake grin onto her face.  
  
"Oh yes, that would be lovely Mother!" never relaxing her smiling face, she asked Rory under her breath, "Am I overdoing it?"  
  
"I'd take it down a couple notches if I were you."  
  
********************  
  
  
  
Dinner was served at 7, as promised. Throughout the salad, Lorelai's comforting smiles and words in the maid's defense kept Nora calm and able to perform every obsessively precise task Emily demanded. However, Lorelai's courage was dwindling. Rory tried to remind her mother subtly every chance she got, but somehow Lorelai just couldn't work up the nerve. Finally, half way through the main course, Emily relieved her of the responsibility of bringing it up.  
  
"So Rory," Emily said with a curious grin. "I read in the Chilton newsletter that the preparations for Prom are coming along excellently. Are you looking forward to it?"  
  
Rory looked to her mom, awkwardly. "Oh, um. actually, I'm not really-"  
  
Lorelai went to her rescue. "Rory's not really going to the Chilton prom, Mom." Emily's eyes widened.  
  
"What do you mean Rory's not going to the Chilton Prom?" she asked, alarmed. "Rory can't miss her prom! These are the kinds of things that you'll regret missing for the rest of your life, young lady-"  
  
Lorelai interrupted. "Mom, she's going to A prom. Just- not the one for Chilton. That's all."  
  
Emily looked confused, and turned to Rory for an answer. "What does that mean?"  
  
Rory tried her hardest not to look guilty. She knew she had to avoid the subject of Jess being her date. Ever since the Friday night months ago when he'd met her grandparents, she'd known better than to bring him up. Emily did not like him. At all. "Well, Grandma," she began, "I'm sort of planning on going to the prom at Stars Hollow High. I mean- most of my close friends go there. All the kids from Stars Hollow are going there. Especially Lane; Lane's my best friend, and I just know we'd both have more fun if we went to the same prom."  
  
Emily's face relaxed slightly. "Well. I suppose that makes sense enough." She paused before asking with a curious smile, "What are you planning to wear?"  
  
Rory and Lorelai exchanged nervous glances. "Well, mom," Lorelai began with a fake smile, "That's something that I wanted to discuss with you. You see, I would normally make Rory's dress for her, but. I just feel like the prom is something- special, and Rory should have the perfect dress."  
  
"I agree," Emily said. "What are you getting at?" Lorelai worked up her courage.  
  
"We don't have the money to buy a gorgeous dress she'll only wear once," Lorelai said. "So I was wondering if you might. I don't know, contribute any money to the 'Rory's perfect prom night' fund?"  
  
To Lorelai's surprise, Emily smiled pleasantly. "Why I'd love to! In fact there's a place near Richard's work that has the most lovely display of formal gowns; I'll get Rory an appointment there for this weekend if she'd like."  
  
Rory smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to. Could Lane maybe come along and help me pick a dress out on Sunday?"  
  
"That sounds perfect. Lorelai, I'll write out a check for you after dinner."  
  
Lorelai grinned triumphantly at Rory. "Well this is working out perfect! Now you and Jess are all set for outfits and as long as you can keep him from wearing a Metallica tee-shirt under his jacket, we can count on some prom photos suitable for display in the house!"  
  
Rory's heart sank. Emily's face went pale. Richard narrowed his eyes. Lorelai slapped her hand over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to bring that up, was I?"  
  
"Jess?" Emily asked. It wasn't so much a question as an accusation. "Jess, the boy who came to dinner here a few months ago with a black eye?"  
  
"Yeah, Mom, that'd be the one," Lorelai said. "Rory, hon, why don't you go on in the kitchen and use the phone to call Lane about Sunday? Quick before Mama Kim makes her go to bed."  
  
Obediently, Rory stood and left the room, but didn't go so far that she couldn't hear the discussion at the dinner table.  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Ok, Mom, I know you're not incredibly fond of Jess-"  
  
"Not incredibly fond of him?" Emily asked. "I'd say that's an understatement!"  
  
"Mom, you can't get upset about this. You don't even know the boy-"  
  
"I know he's not suitable for Rory. I mean for God's sake, Lorelai, he speaks like an ex-convict!"  
  
"How can you say that Mom? You've never even met an ex-con, how should you know how they speak?"  
  
"He's been in trouble."  
  
"Every kid his age has been in trouble before! It hasn't been anything major, at least, I mean just kid stuff- like- he stole a gnome from our neighbor's yard."  
  
"A gnome?"  
  
"Long, LONG story."  
  
"He fights."  
  
"How would you know?"  
  
"He came to dinner here with a black eye and he wouldn't tell Rory how he got it!"  
  
Lorelai tried to stifle chuckles in her explanation. "Well actually, Mom, as it turns out, he got that from- well, long story cut short, he got it from a swan, if you must know-"  
  
"Oh please!"  
  
"What?! I'm serious! He did!!!"  
  
Emily sighed. Lorelai continued. "Look, you knew Rory was with Jess; we never said anything about a breakup. Jess is like. he's a work in progress, the way I see it. when he first came to Stars Hollow, yeah, I'll admit, he wasn't exactly full of sunshine and good behavior, but since he's gotten to know Rory. she's had a really good affect on the kid. And as it turns out, under all the defensive layers that Rory somehow managed to peel off of him, he's a pretty great kid. I mean, I even really like him. Considering he's the reason Rory missed my graduation and got her wrist fractured. that's saying a lot for him." Lorelai watched her parents' faces for signs of acceptance. Seeing that some of the color had come back to her mothers face and her father's eyes had softened, she continued. "Things are good between them. They're overcoming obstacles left and right, so you can bet that even if they don't get your blessing, they will go to the prom together, and they will remain a couple." She paused. "Jess loves Rory. And Rory loves him right back. Now you can argue with me about him, but I won't let you pester Rory about it, and I won't let you stand in the way of them for the life of me. So if you would kindly try to mask your disdain for the boy for the rest of dinner, I would greatly appreciate it."  
  
There was a long silence before Richard finally spoke. "Oh come on, Emily, just accept it. I had to hold my tongue when Rory was with that Dean fellow, and it turns out he wasn't all that bad. You're not going to get anywhere working against the boy. Rory's stubborn. Even more stubborn, I dare say, than yourself."  
  
Emily took a sip of champagne. "Well I suppose you're right. But I'd like to propose a compromise."  
  
"I'm all ears, Mom."  
  
"If Rory insists on going to the prom with this Jess character, than I will pay for her dress on one condition. She can go to the Stars Hollow prom if she would like. but she must also attend the Chilton prom. How does that sound?"  
  
"Well," Lorelai said, "it doesn't sound impossible, but considering Rory's rocky history with Chilton kids and Chilton dances, I'll have to ask her first."  
  
"That's fine," Emily said. She picked up her glass and added with a smile before taking a sip, "Also, I insist that Rory not fall asleep somewhere with this boy rather than returning home." Lorelai smiled at her mother.  
  
"That sounds reasonable to me. I'll go get her from the kitchen." She stood and walked out of the room, trying desperately to suppress her proud smile.  
  
  
  
**************************  
  
"Wow," Lane said. "It's. well it's intimidating."  
  
Lane and Rory stood in front of a designer store, the name of which neither knew how to pronounce, staring at the mannequins in the window, dressed in detailed, elegant, expensive looking formal gowns. Rory sighed. "Well. I guess we better go in. We do have an appointment." The girls exchanged skeptic glances, and proceeded up the stairs into the store.  
  
After checking in with the woman at the register, they went up the stairs to look at all the dresses. There were racks and racks full of frills, satin, sequins, lace, and velvet in every color one could imagine. "It's all very overwhelming," Rory commented. "Good thing we're not on a tight schedule."  
  
Lane turned over a price tag and gasped. "Oh My goodness. That kind of pricing should be illegal. I think this dress costs more than it costs to feed me for a year."  
  
Rory sighed. "Well that's Emily Gilmore's taste for you. Only the finest for a Gilmore." Rory paused. "God, you're so lucky you already got your dress and everything."  
  
Lane giggled. "Yeah well it wasn't exactly easy to find a prom dress that was completely satisfactory to Mama Kim. Nothing with low neck-lines, low cut backs, no lengths that made my legs at all visible, nothing strappy or without straps, nothing that shows my stomach, nothing with visible buttons or zipper, or anything that implies in any way that a boy will be attracted by said dress, or attempt at any point to remove it from my body." Lane sighed. "I envy you. You get to go to the prom with a guy who loves you, and has told you so, and who you're ready to do it with should the moment arise, and to top it off your mom even seems to like him."  
  
Rory smiled to herself. "Yeah, well lets just hope my mom remains as fond of Jess as she seems to be now. Friday night at my grandparents' house, my mom actually defended Jess to Grandma. She sent me out of the room and everything. It was very impressive. She came off quite maturely." Rory giggled.  
  
Lane lowered her voice. "So, just for the sake of clarity, tell me; are you thinking you and Jess are gonna. on prom night?"  
  
Rory couldn't help grinning. "Well. yeah I was considering that night more than any other." Lane giggled, totally giddy. "But you have to swear not to act weird around him that night, or around my mother, or anyone else for that matter. I'm already nervous enough as it is."  
  
"I swear on my CD collection, I will control my level of weirdness. But you gotta promise to tell me everything afterwards!"  
  
"Of course, Lane, you're my best friend. Who else would I tell?"  
  
Lane didn't answer. In fact, she began to walk away from Rory, determined. Rory followed, confused. "Lane? Did you hear me?"  
  
Lane walked to a rack, blocking Rory's view of the object of interest. "It's perfect," Lane whispered.  
  
"What is?" Rory asked. Lane turned around, holding up a gorgeous dress. It was a beautiful shade of ruby red, with a satiny, flowing fabric. It was strappy with a graceful flowing boat neck and a full skirt. On one side of the torso was a gorgeous silvery beaded pattern. Rory fell in love with it at first sight. "Oh my God," she exclaimed. "It's so beautiful! I love it."  
  
"Aren't you glad you brought me along with you?" Lane asked with a proud smile.  
  
Rory tried the dress on, and it looked fantastic on her; she looked just like a princess. She bought the dress and could hardly wait to see the look on Jess' face when she answered the door the next Saturday evening wearing it. It would definitely be a night to remember. 


	2. Here Goes Nothing

Part 3  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh come on."  
  
"Even if they were bringing Joey Ramone back from the dead for a Ramones reunion on the stage, I still would never even DREAM of setting foot anywhere near the Chilton Prom." Jess laughed. "Drink some more coffee, cuz you are obviously out of it."  
  
Rory stuck out her bottom lip. "You couldn't at least hear me out?"  
  
"I could, but then I wouldn't get to hear you put your outstanding debate skills to good use, would I?"  
  
Rory sighed and ate a fry, contemplating how she could convince him to go. "Paris will be there."  
  
"Paris is in France. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"  
  
"Paris the person. Remember her? You met her last year at my house, that night when my mom was at the spa?"  
  
"The night Dean almost ripped my head off? Yeah, I vaguely remember that night." He walked over to the fridge and got out a soda. "Can I have this?"  
  
"Wouldn't recommend it. It's from Canada."  
  
"What's wrong with soda from Canada?"  
  
"Nothing. Only problem is, neither my mother nor I have been to Canada, and neither of us purchased said soda."  
  
"So how the hell did it get here?"  
  
"That's the million dollar question. Just don't drink it. Trust me."  
  
Jess poured himself a Coke.  
  
"You liked her." Rory tried again. "Remember? We talked literature. It was good, wasn't it?"  
  
Jess chuckled. "Well yeah. She was nice enough. But nice enough for me to drive an hour to drink champage and eat caviar while we schmooze with Muffy, Bunny, and Theodore from the country club? I think not."  
  
Rory stood up and brought her plate to the sink. "Ok, unfair. There is not a single person named Muffy at my school, and there's only one Bunny, but it's not her fault her parents thought that was cute."  
  
Jess downed his soda and brought his plate to the sink. "I'm full. You wanna 'Watch a movie'?"  
  
Rory ignored him. "There will be no caviar, and probably no champagne, and you will not be in any way forced to 'schmooze'. You won't even have to dance much."  
  
"Much? Rory, I gotta tell ya', it's been a while since I've practiced my foxtrot, and it's probably not up to par right about now."  
  
"You're being difficult."  
  
"It's what I do best. Come on, let's go in the other room."  
  
"No!" Rory's eyes widened; she had her game face on. She was serious. "I refuse to kiss, hug, or snuggle with you at all until you agree to go to the Chilton prom with me. Understand?"  
  
Jess rolled his eyes. "Oh God fine. I'll go to the Chilton prom under 3 conditions. 1) If they start to play Britney Spears we will leave immediately with no complaints from you. 2) You never call what we do "snuggling" ever, EVER again. And 3) You have to read the Hemingway book of my choice afterwards." He held out his hand. "Deal?"  
  
Rory considered for a moment, and finally shook his hand reluctantly. "Fine. But only ONE book by Hemingway. I draw the line at anything with volumes."  
  
Jess smiled. "Deal." With her hand still shaking his, Jess pulled her toward him gently and kissed her. Rory smiled.  
  
"Ok," she said. "Let's go "watch a movie."'  
  
  
  
*********  
  
  
  
"Ok now," Lorelai said, handing her daughter her dress. "There are a few specific rules I must ask you to follow while wearing my clothing. One; no matter how appealing it looks, you've got to resist the temptation to eat that jelly donut. No rolling around on the ground, as much fun as it may be. And I don't care if all the cool kids are doing it, there is no excuse for volunteering to be the target in a pie throwing contest while wearing my dress."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll try my best not to get involved in all the food throwing and mud wrestling that are guaranteed to take place at any formal Chilton event. Now can I please put the dress on? Jess is gonna be here in half an hour, and he probably won't want to take me if I'm wearing a bathrobe."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Give me a minute. It's always a traumatizing thing for me to part with my clothing, especially evening gowns."  
  
Rory smiled. She knew when her mother offered to let her wear one of her dresses to the Chilton prom, so she wouldn't wear the same dress twice, it wouldn't be an easy process. The contents of her mother's closet were very sacred to her. Rory added to comfort her, "I promise, I'll treat it like it's my own."  
  
Reluctantly, Lorelai handed it over. "Call me down when you need me to do your makeup."  
  
Rory smiled to her mother, but the minute she was out of the bedroom, the nervous knot in her stomach began to show in her facial expression. She nearly tripped down the stairs. She couldn't really wrap her mind around the idea that she very well could lose her innocence in only a few hours. She knew Jess probably thought tonight would be the night also. "Oh Joy," she thought to herself. "More awkward pauses than usual. I can hardly wait."  
  
In her room she slipped on the dress. It wasn't as fancy as the one she'd bought; it was a baby blue full-skirted strappy dress that fell just a few inches below her knees. It fit her pretty well, but she didn't really care about looking perfect that night. All she could think about was how nervous she'd be when Jess would offer to head home early, as she was sure he would. Of course they wouldn't go right home. There were a couple motels on the drive back, and they weren't due back in Stars Hollow until 1:30 or so in the morning.  
  
Rory had just put on a necklace and some earrings, and was about to start on her hair, but gave up. She couldn't deal with her nerves alone anymore. She closed the door and dialed Lane's number.  
  
"Hello, Kim's antique's."  
  
"Hi Mrs. Kim," Rory said, trying to make her voice sound as sweet as honey. or whatever the Kim's healthy alternative to honey might be. "Could I talk to Lane please? Just for a few minutes, I promise."  
  
Mrs. Kim paused reluctantly. "Ten minutes. She has chores to do."  
  
"Ten minutes. Got it."  
  
Mrs. Kim covered the phone with her hand and called for Lane. Momentarily she was there.  
  
"Rory?" Lane spoke into the phone, bringing it up the stairs to her room for some privacy.  
  
"Oh my God Lane help me."  
  
"What? What happened? Did you and Jess have a fight?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did Dean break Jess' leg or something? Cuz I had a dream that you and me and Jess and Dave were on a boat, and Jess was dangling his feet over the side and something we thought was a shark tried to bite his leg off, but then we found out it wasn't really a shark, it was ACTUALLY Dean-"  
  
"Lane you have got to stop listening to the Jaws soundtrack before you go to sleep."  
  
"Duly noted. What's going on?"  
  
Rory lowered her voice. "There's a butterfly farm in my stomach and all their cocoons just hatched."  
  
"Weird science reference."  
  
"Well I babble about academic things when I'm nervous."  
  
"So I'm guessing tonight.?"  
  
"Well yeah. I hope. I think. Maybe. If I don't throw up or something."  
  
"Wow. Please don't do that. When they sing about it in songs, how people who love you hold your hair back for you, it's really not as romantic as they make it sound."  
  
"I think that pretty much goes without saying."  
  
"Good point."  
  
"What am I gonna do? He's gonna be here in 15 minutes. I'm so not prepared to know how to talk to him at this point."  
  
"Ok," Lane said, determined. "I'm going in the closet."  
  
"Um. Ok?"  
  
"Alright, let me put on some happy go-lucky encouraging music like the Bangles or The Presidents of the USA to get me in the mood."  
  
"In the mood for what?"  
  
"What you need most right now, my friend. A pep talk." Rory heard "Walk Like an Egyptian" start in the background. "Ok." Lane began. "A few things to remember. First: Jess is your boyfriend."  
  
"Yes generally that would be a good thing for me to remember."  
  
"You love him, and have told him so. He loves you, and has told you so. In fact, he loves you enough to wear a tux and go to, not only one, but two proms. At one of these proms, no one but you will know him. At the other one, everyone will know him, but most of them will hate him. This is not something he would do if he didn't really care about you."  
  
"I get all that," Rory said. "And it makes sense, I just. what if it's. weird?"  
  
"Ok, keep in mind now that I love Dave and in no way have any attraction to Jess ok?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Rory, he's hot."  
  
"I've noticed, Lane."  
  
"Seriously. Have you seen the way he walks? Or have you seen the way he kisses you?"  
  
"Ironically I haven't gotten the chance to see him kissing me. We haven't gotten around to video taping it yet."  
  
"He looks like his name might as well be Casanova. Trust me, Rory, Jess probably knows what he's doing."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't. That's kind of important. I am half of the relationship, you know."  
  
"My point is, Jess cares about you, and he's probably just as nervous as you are. Just try to relax and remember you trust him. Even though you are one of few who do."  
  
Rory sighed. "You were so close to getting me calm until that last sentence."  
  
"I'm sorry. Just remember; Jess good. Jess trustworthy. Jess loves you. You must relax."  
  
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was getting it, but the caveman phrases at the end gave it a real punch."  
  
"Hey I tried. I don't have the right music, I'm not at my best."  
  
Rory smiled. "Thank you, Lane. And I promise I'll see you tomorrow and tell you everything. Well not everything. But everything that's not dirty."  
  
"It's a plan. Good luck!"  
  
"Thanks! Bye!"  
  
Rory hung up with a sigh and called her mother to come do her make up.  
  
  
  
***********  
  
  
  
Luke came bursting into Jess' room. "You're gonna be late. you're wearing that?"  
  
Jess rolled his eyes. "No, this is just the decoy outfit. Don't tell, but Rory and I are actually going to a pajama party. We're gonna change on the way."  
  
Luke ignored him. "You're not gonna wear a tie?"  
  
Jess chuckled. "Luke, do you know me at all?"  
  
"And you're not gonna wear that- that THING that goes around your waist?"  
  
"Luke, what in my history of apparel ever led you to believe I would, under any circumstances, wear a cummerbund?"  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "And you're just leaving your hair like normal?"  
  
"I like it this way," Jess retorted. "That's why I do it like that. You think you can save the critique on the rest of my appearance till I get back? Cuz I'm kind of on a schedule here."  
  
Luke sighed, and tried his hardest not to sound like some sappy idiot. "I'm sorry, ok? You don't look. bad or anything."  
  
"Apology accepted. Why are you still in my room?"  
  
Luke sat down awkwardly. "We gotta talk."  
  
Jess rolled his eyes. "Come on. The "don't hurt Rory" speech again? Don't you think if I were planning to hurt her, I would have gotten it done BEFORE our 7 month anniversary?"  
  
"That's not it." Luke awkwardly gestured to the bed. "Sit down. I hate looking up at you like I'm some goddamn munchkin or something."  
  
Jess reluctantly sat, and said in sarcastically sweet voice, "Yes, Uncle Luke?"  
  
"Jess, you're goin' to Chilton."  
  
"I'm aware of this."  
  
"Chilton is a pretty formal place. It's Rory's school."  
  
"All pieces of information I've heard several times before, what's your point?"  
  
"Don't embarrass her! You can't act the way you do around here when you're with those people. They'll throw you out on your ass. So please resist the urge to act out your usual problems with authority, and no intoxication of any kind, and just. try not to do anything Rory couldn't tell her grandparents about, ok?"  
  
Jess plastered on an obviously fake smile. "I'll try my extra hardest Uncle Luke!" Picking up his wallet, keys, and little box, he strolled out of the room. "I'll be back late."  
  
************  
  
  
  
"Ok I think you've had enough fun with the eye shadow, Mom."  
  
Lorelai pouted. "Fine. I'll put it away. You know they always used to say, a girl can never wear enough eye shadow."  
  
Rory smiled. "Yeah well they also used to wear corsets and think the world was flat."  
  
Lorelai put the eye shadow down and examined her daughter. "You look beautiful babe. Really. Jess is gonna be speechless."  
  
Rory smiled humbly. "I don't look that good."  
  
Lorleai rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, we don't allow fishing for compliments in this house. You look great, accept it."  
  
"Thank you, mom." Rory's nervousness was pushed aside by a new feeling; complete guilt. She wanted to tell her mother. She and Lorelai shared EVERYTHING. But she knew now was definitely not the time to mention, "Oh by the way Mom, I'm gonna let Jess deflower me tonight." She'd send her to live with the Kim's or something.  
  
"Hey, Kid, what's the matter?" Lorelai asked.  
  
Rory tried to play it off. "Nothing's wrong. Really."  
  
"Honey you never were very good at lying."  
  
Rory sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just a little nervous."  
  
Lorelai smiled comfortingly. "Ok, even though your last experience with a Chilton dance ended. well not wonderfully, it doesn't mean every Chilton dance is gonna end with your boyfriend having a public fight on the dance floor and you staying out all night. There is every possibility that tonight will be fun filled. as long as they don't play any Britney Spears."  
  
Rory smiled. "You know, you and Jess are a lot more compatible than you guys think you are."  
  
Lorelai looked confused. "Rory, queen of the non-sequitur."  
  
The doorbell rang. Rory and Lorelai froze.  
  
"Did you order pizza?" Rory asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Chinese?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Barbershop quartet?"  
  
"Creative. But no."  
  
They both sighed.  
  
"So you think that's him?" Rory asked.  
  
"Probably. You want me to answer?"  
  
"Considering I can't feel my legs, that would probably be best."  
  
Lorelai headed to the door. "I'm on it." she turned back one last time. "You're gorgeous, he loves you, it will be ok."  
  
Lorelai closed Rory's bedroom door. Rory smiled to herself, looked in the mirror one last time, and said under her breath, "Here goes nothing."  
  
******************  
  
  
  
Lorelai opened the front door.  
  
"Jess, wow," she said, trying to stifle giggles at the sight of him in a tux. "You, uh. you look great."  
  
Jess chuckled, embarrassed. "Yeah right. Is Rory ready?"  
  
"In Just a minute. Come on in. Have a seat. Prepare something fantastic to say when Rory comes out looking like a princess."  
  
Jess chuckled and took a seat on the couch. Lorelai sat on the chair opposite him and tried her best to break the awkward silence. "So did you get her a corsage?"  
  
Jess shook his head. "I was warned not to buy flowers or anything that dies."  
  
"So I'm guessing she told you about the time she brought her corsage from the debutante ball home?"  
  
"You mean the time you insisted on having a funeral for the flowers when they died? Yeah she told me."  
  
Lorelai smiled, awkwardly. "Yeah well. Rory tends to exaggerate when she tells stories about me."  
  
Jess smiled and nodded. "Sure."  
  
Lorelai stood. "I should probably go get Rory huh?"  
  
"That's probably a good idea."  
  
Lorelai went to Rory's door and knocked. "Cinderella! You're prince has arrived! Wanna make an appearance?"  
  
Rory called back through the door. "Did he bring flowers in any shape or form?"  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No, and you're never gonna let me forget that one incident, are you?"  
  
Rory opened her door with a smile. "Mom, I think it's sweet that you care so much about the flowers that you want to mourn their death."  
  
"Yeah right," Lorelai replied.  
  
"Really! I do! It's just. time consuming, planning the services and all."  
  
"Prince Charming is waiting," Lorelai changed the subject in a sing song-y voice.  
  
Rory walked down the hall into the living room. Jess looked up at her as she entered and his eyes visibly widened. She could feel herself blushing. Jess stood.  
  
"Wow," he said. "I'm certainly impressed." He paused awkwardly. "You look. really good. REALLY good."  
  
Rory smiled, embarrassed. "Thank you. You too." Both of them were obviously too nervous to know what to say. Lorelai looked from one embarrassed teen to the other, hoping for somebody to break the ice so she wouldn't have to.  
  
"Ok!" She began. "You guys should probably get going, you'll be late. You got the tickets?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah, we're all set." She took a deep breath. "See ya later mom."  
  
"Bye, you two. Have fun."  
  
Lorelai sighed, watching Jess take Rory's hand and lead her towards the door. She tried to hold back her tears at least until they were out the door. She felt so silly; it was Rory's prom, no big deal. But it was so weird for her. She never even got to go to her prom, and by the age of 17 she was single, a high school dropout, with a baby, and she'd never even really gotten a chance to grow up. And now here Rory was; 18 years old, about to graduate high school, in no danger of being pregnant, and on her way to her senior prom with a boy who really loved her. She went to the window to wave at Rory as the car drove away, but saw only Jess, standing unaccompanied by the side of the car. She heard the front door open, and saw Rory run through the living room to hug her.  
  
"I love you Mom," She said with a goofy smile.  
  
Lorelai wiped away a tear. "Love you two, Ror. But you gotta stop doing stuff like this to me, or my new nickname's gonna be Crybaby."  
  
Rory giggled a little. "I'll be back soon. Bye." Rory headed out the door and actually made it inside the car this time. Lorelai grabbed a tissue and smiled to herself. She knew she'd screwed up a lot of things in her life, and it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to get pregnant at 16 years old. But right then, she knew for sure, she didn't have a single regret about it.  
  
*************  
  
  
  
The tension in the car was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. Neither Jess nor Rory said a thing for the first 15 minutes of the drive. But they both had a pretty good idea what the other was thinking about.  
  
"So." Rory began, trying not to sound too nervous. "You did a good job making the tux look cool." Nice going, she thought to herself sarcastically. That wasn't an awkward thing to say at all.  
  
Jess chuckled. "I look like a dork. I hope you're not planning on taking a lot of pictures."  
  
Rory smiled. "I have to get a few. My mom and Grandma might smother me with pillows if I don't. But you really don't look like a dork." And the awkward silence returned.  
  
"So um. after we leave the dance." Jess began. Rory's heart jumped. I can't believe he's actually bringing this up, she thought. "I have something planned. You know if you get bored and wanna leave early."  
  
"You have something planned?"  
  
"Yeah." He smiled. "It involves a place that serves good coffee, if that helps."  
  
Rory grinned. He had something planned that didn't include a motel bed. That was comforting. "Well it does help. A lot." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks again for doing this. I know it's not really your thing."  
  
"Oh no, are you kidding?" Jess said, with good natured sarcasm. "I was born to be a prom escort."  
  
Rory smiled. "I should warn you, there are a few girls who'll try to throw themselves at you the minute you walk through the door. I'll try to help you steer clear of them, but if they corner you while you're alone."  
  
"No big deal," Jess said. "I'll use a really good dungeons and dragons reference, and maybe throw a Star Trek quote in there. They'll lose interest before you can say "Beam me up Scotty."'  
  
Rory sighed with a smile. "Ok. Good plan."  
  
"Thanks." He shot a smile at her. "Just promise you'll point out Bunny when we get there so I can steer clear."  
  
Rory giggled. "Scout's honor." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
  
  
  
  
********************  
  
  
  
"Wow," Jess said in awe. "It's really big."  
  
Rory sighed, scanning the dance floor. "Yep. Chilton's not exactly known for being understated. Oh hey, there's Bunny by the refreshments."  
  
Jess looked over. "The blond one talking to a chaperone with the really bad fake tan?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes."  
  
"Thanks for the warning." Jess looked over at a smiling Rory and suddenly felt really comfortable. He laced his fingers through hers. "You wanna go sit down?"  
  
Rory nodded. "I have no desire to dance at this point," she said, gesturing to the DJ, who was playing a Mandy Moore tune. Rory led Jess by the hand to an unoccupied table and they sat, facing the dance floor. Rory pointed at certain members of the crowd discreetly.  
  
"That guy there, that's Henry."  
  
"Lane's ex Henry?" Jess asked.  
  
"Yeah," Rory replied, confused. "How'd you know about that?"  
  
Jess smiled mischievously. "I have my ways. Continue."  
  
Rory scanned the crowd. "Those two girls, they're Madeline and Louise."  
  
"Friends of yours?"  
  
"Well I wouldn't say friends exactly. We know each other. We talk sometimes. We don't dislike each other. It's a pretty platonic relationship."  
  
"I see. Hey there's Paris."  
  
Rory looked and saw Paris walking over to their table. She sat and mumbled.  
  
"Oh my god I'm so embarrassed."  
  
"Paris, what's wrong?" Rory asked, confused.  
  
Paris looked like she wanted to die. "My date just started up a conversation with my English teacher."  
  
"So what's the problem?"  
  
"He doesn't know a thing about literature. He's such an embarrassment." Paris looked up and suddenly became aware of the fact that Rory wasn't sitting alone. "Oh," she said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you guys alone to your date." She stood up to go, but Jess spoke.  
  
"What's up, Paris?"  
  
"What?" Paris asked confused.  
  
"I think he just asked you how you were, Paris." Rory chimed in.  
  
"You called me Paris," she said to Jess.  
  
"Well yeah, that IS your name isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," she said. "You remembered me?"  
  
Jess chuckled, a little confused. "Yeah I did. Last year. I came to Rory's house. Brought food. You were there, Rory made you play chaperone."  
  
"I did not," Rory interjected.  
  
Jess ignored the comment. "We talked books. Sound about right?"  
  
Paris seemed impressed and almost flattered. "Wow. Good memory."  
  
"Thanks." He looked over and saw Rory smiling hopefully. He turned back to Paris. "You wanna sit down? We could have some heated literary discussion and try to distract ourselves from the painfully bad music."  
  
Paris smiled. "Are you sure? I mean don't you guys want to be alone?"  
  
Rory shot a smile at Jess. "It's ok. We're alone most of the time. To be honest, I'm a little sick of him."  
  
"Thanks a bunch, pumpkin," Jess said sarcastically with a smile, knowing she'd hated it when her mother used to call her that.  
  
"No problem, Honeybear." Rory giggled, knowing Jess hated being called anything cute. She leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly. Paris sat down with a grateful smile.  
  
"It really is awful music isn't it?" Paris said.  
  
Jess chuckled. "Yeah, it kinda makes you wish Jimi Hendrix were alive to see this, huh?"  
  
Paris looked confused. "Jimi Hendrix? He's dead?"  
  
"Oh my god," Jess muttered shaking his head.  
  
"Paris," Rory offered, "Maybe we should just stick to literary topics."  
  
  
  
**************  
  
Lorelai walked into the diner, her eyes still kind of puffy. She sat at the counter as Luke walked toward her.  
  
"A gallon of coffee please and make it strong. I'm talking make-my-eyes- water strong, burger boy."  
  
Luke reluctantly poured some into a large cup. "Please. Don't call me that anymore. Some of the other customers have overheard it in the past and tried to get away with it themselves. It's pretty annoying."  
  
Lorelai grinned. "Hey! I started a trend! I'm like J.Lo!" Her grin faded as she felt Luke examining her face closely. "Um, why are you looking at me like I have spinach in my teeth? I mean I know I don't. I haven't eaten spinach since I was 8 years old and the maid force fed it to me while my parents were gone."  
  
"Have you been crying?" Luke asked. Lorelai rolled her eyes.  
  
"No!" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Seriously! I wasn't crying, I. was chopping onions. Lots of onions. Giant ones."  
  
"Nice try. You don't eat onions."  
  
"No I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't like to cut them. I watch the cooking channel and I like to bring my cutting board and chop vegetables with a big knife and pretend I'm that guy, Emeril. Except taller and less manly."  
  
Luke chuckled. "You have no idea how greatly it disturbs me that you have access to any kind of big knife, Lorelai."  
  
"Yep, that's right," Lorelai said, sipping her coffee. "Sleep with one eye open, Luke, cuz Lorelai's got a big knife and she knows where you live!" Luke rolled his eyes and started making more coffee.  
  
"I'll watch my back."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Alright, enough with the third degree already. I confess."  
  
"What third degree? All I said-"  
  
"Shhh, Luke, I'm about to have a moving, Lifetime network worthy moment here, do you really wanna miss it?"  
  
Luke sighed. "OK. Go ahead."  
  
Lorelai lowered her voice. "I admit, I have been crying. But only a little bit, mind you."  
  
"I see," Luke said. "Why were you crying? Something wrong?"  
  
Lorelai smiled mischievously. "I'll tell you if you get me some fries."  
  
Luke glared. "Fine, but someday, I'm gonna stop playing along in these little games of yours."  
  
"Aw but who else would you get to entertain you?"  
  
Luke ignored her. "Caesar! Fries! An extra big plate for Lorelai!" he turned back to her. "Happy?"  
  
"Very. Now you get to hear why I was crying."  
  
"Oh Joy."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Rory went to the prom."  
  
Luke glared. "That's it! That's all? I knew that! That was cheap."  
  
Lorelai sipped her coffee. "Not satisfied? Fine. I have a secret, and I'll tell you but only if you SWEAR you won't let Jess know that I told you."  
  
Luke passed her the plate of fries. "I can pretty much guarantee I won't tell him. We're not really too chatty these days."  
  
"OK." Lorelai grinned and whispered to him, "Jess told Rory he loves her!"  
  
Luke's eyes widened in disbelief. "He WHAT?"  
  
"He told her he-"  
  
"I heard you the first time."  
  
"I know. I just really like saying it."  
  
Luke sighed. "I don't believe this."  
  
Lorelai examined him, confused. "Are you MAD about this or something?"  
  
"No!" Luke exclaimed. "No, I mean. it's great. Great for them. It just. sounds out of character for Jess."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah well I used to think liking Jess was out of character for Rory. But I guess they both have a weird effect on each other, huh?"  
  
Luke chuckled. "You could say that again." He paused. "You know he got Rory a present for tonight."  
  
Lorelai leaned in, eager for information. "Really? He didn't tell me."  
  
"Yeah he wouldn't tell me what it was either. But he's been working extra hours lately. Saving up his money. Hasn't bought a book or CD in over a month."  
  
"Ooooh, so he got her something expensive. Oh, maybe he bought her a lifetime supply of coffee!"  
  
Luke laughed. "Yeah, that's likely."  
  
"Hey don't sound so sarcastic! It could happen. He knows Rory well, he knows she'd like it."  
  
"Yeah and he also knows you, and therefore knows that if he got her that, you'd drink it all."  
  
"Gee, burst my bubble why don't you?"  
  
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, half-meaning it. "More coffee?"  
  
Lorelai smiled. "You sure know the way to my heart, Luke!"  
  
Luke poured her more coffee. "You know you don't have to keep guessing what he got her. She'll probably show you when she gets home."  
  
Lorelai sighed dreamily. "Yeah. She'll probably come home, all glowy and tired and walking on air with this ridiculous smile stuck on her face. And she'll prance into my room, and say "Oh Mom it was so perfect, I loved my prom. It was the best night of my life."'  
  
Luke snickered. "You haven't been to too many proms, have you?"  
  
"Well not exactly," Lorelai said. "But hey, who's to say it's not gonna be the perfect night for Rory?"  
  
"You know there's a law, right?"  
  
"What law?"  
  
"The law that says everyone's prom sucks except people who win positions in the prom court and people in teen movies."  
  
"Pessimist."  
  
"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist."  
  
Lorelai ignored him and got a twinkle in her eye. "You think they're dancing right now?"  
  
Luke shook his head. "Jess doesn't dance, Lorelai, trust me."  
  
"Well I'm not saying he's doing the tango or anything. You know all dancing means to kids is standing there with their hands all over each other and swaying 2 centimeters in either direction, right?"  
  
"Oh how romantic," Luke said sarcastically.  
  
"Call me overly optimistic, Lucas," Lorelai said, "But I think whatever they're doing, Rory and Jess are having a great time. They're with each other, and they're in love and they're both dressed up and look like models, and neither of them has to worry about paying taxes. What could be better?"  
  
Luke examined Lorelai's face discreetly, and reluctantly resisted his urge to reply with a sarcastic retort. He sighed, wiping off his hands with a dish towel. "I don't know," he said softly. "I guess they could be having a good time."  
  
Lorelai smiled at him. "God. They're really lucky, don't you think? I mean to have found somebody who's just as gorgeous as you are who lives near you and who likes the same music as you and has the same weird slightly obsessive hobby, and who loves you? And at their age too." Lorelai chuckled ironically. "I guess the daughter gets all the luck in this family, huh?"  
  
Luke sighed. "I'm sure you'll find somebody someday."  
  
"Someone who likes my music and my hobbies and who lives here?"  
  
"Well what music are you hoping they like?"  
  
"Metallica, Sinead O'Connor, Ash, and the Go-Go's."  
  
"Well maybe we'll have to go for hobbies then. What are you're biggest hobbies? Besides guzzling coffee and trying to annoy the local diner owner."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Mocking stupid movies ruthlessly, watching the cooking channel as I mentioned before, having conversations with inanimate objects, and avoiding my mother."  
  
Luke sighed. "Ok, maybe it'll be tough finding someone who shares the same taste in music and the same hobbies as you."  
  
Lorelai stuck out her bottom lip. "Told you. I'm never gonna find love."  
  
Luke remained silent for a minute before saying, "Well maybe the person you love doesn't have to have everything in common with you, ya' know? They say opposite's attract. I always thought it was crap, but hey. you're the optimist right? Who says you can't love someone who's different from you?"  
  
Lorelai smiled at him. "You're pretty good at this."  
  
"Good at what?" Luke asked.  
  
"Talking romantic. That bit there, that should have been in a movie."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Stop."  
  
"I don't mean it in a bad way really! It was actually very nice and comforting, and made me feel good enough to go back home now." Lorelai stood and picked up her purse. She paused before leaving. "Thank you Luke."  
  
She strolled out of the diner. After she was out of earshot, Luke muttered, "Anytime, Lorelai."  
  
  
  
******************  
  
A/N:  
  
Second half of prom night comes soon, and I promise it will be juicy and complete!!!!!  
  
PLEASE send feedback; I live for the stuff 


	3. One Last Bridge to Cross

A/N: This chapter is definitely R rated, so beware if you're not interested in that!  
  
Part 4 One Last Bridge to Cross  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I am hanging on every word you say  
  
And even if you don't want to speak tonight That's all right, all right with me Cuz I want nothing more than To sit outside heaven's door and Listen to you breathing That's where I wanna be...  
  
  
  
Rory had never liked Lifehouse before. She always thought of them as a far too mellow, pop rock band with sappy lyrics. But in the dim light of the dance floor, dancing with Jess... suddenly that particular song didn't seem so bad.  
  
Their literary discussion with Paris had lasted a good 45 minutes, and it was really good. Jess actually seemed really interested, and as much as Rory wanted to actively partake in the conversation, she found herself really distracted by him. She really just wanted to sit and watch him talk. She loved it when he got passionate about something.  
  
She saw several of the Chilton girls eyeing him from across the room. She'd known they would; he was gorgeous, and that was all any of these girls cared about. But they all knew they didn't have a chance; even though he was completely engrossed in his discussion with Paris about The Stranger and Camus' version of existentialism, he left his arm around her shoulder, and everyone knew he was only interested in her.  
  
After a while, Paris was stolen away by a boy named Brian who wanted to dance with her, and Rory and Jess finally had a chance to be alone. They spent a while just sitting and talking, drinking their punch, but eventually got up to dance, without any complaints from Jess. It was turning out to be much less awkward and much more fun than either of them had expected.  
  
The song ended and a fast paced song by some wannabe punk band blared over the speakers. Jess rolled his eyes and looked sadly at the DJ, who was head banging to the music.  
  
"They just HAD to play a fast song, didn't they?" he groaned.  
  
Rory lifted her head off his shoulder and tentatively said, "So. you wanna go? Or did you have your heart set on finding out who's prom queen?"  
  
Jess smiled. "You wanna go already? It's only been like an hour."  
  
Rory nodded. "I know. I just... I'm only here cuz my Grandma made me come. I'm more looking forward to the Stars Hollow High prom." She paused. "So... you wanna get going?"  
  
"Well gee I dunno," Jess said sarcastically. "I'd hate to miss more Good Charlotte." Rory giggled. His hands left her waist. "I'll go get the coats. Be right back."  
  
Rory couldn't help but smile as she watched him walk away.  
  
"I think Brian might like me."  
  
Rory turned and saw an excited Paris in front of her. She smiled. "Well that's a good thing, right?"  
  
Paris nodded. "I think so. He likes politics. He said I'd make a good politician."  
  
"And that was a compliment in this case?"  
  
"I think so, yes."  
  
"Well good then," Rory glanced at him. "He's cute."  
  
"Isn't he?" Paris turned and shot him a smile. "Hey where's Jess?"  
  
"Uh, he's getting our coats."  
  
"You guys are leaving? It's barely 9 o'clock. What's the rush?"  
  
Rory didn't know what to say. "Um... strict uncle. He- has to be back by 10 or he'll - get grounded."  
  
Paris sighed. "You're lying. I can tell."  
  
Rory sighed, frustrated. "Why is everyone so easily able to tell when I'm lying? Does my nose grow or something?"  
  
"You're eyes. They always shift first."  
  
Rory sighed. "We just have other stuff planned, that's all. We're going for coffee in town."  
  
"Oh..." Paris seemed a little disappointed. "Well um... tell him I say bye."  
  
"Paris what's wrong?"  
  
Paris sighed. "I just. I'm having fun with Brian and all. But you're the only couple here who's not too busy playing tonsil hockey to talk to other people."  
  
Rory felt a little sorry. "Well ok... valid point. But hey, you and Brian are having a good time. You can use this time to get to know each other better. ."  
  
"Yeah. Sure."  
  
Rory paused. "Hey... how about sometime soon, you and me and Jess and Brian could all go somewhere together? Like... a movie, or out for a bite?"  
  
Paris smiled gratefully. "Yeah sure." She paused. "He's pretty great, you know?"  
  
"Who, Brian?"  
  
"Well yeah, him too. But I meant Jess. He's nice. And a lot less brain dead than most guys our age."  
  
Rory smiled. "Yeah. He's really smart."  
  
"You guys make a cute couple."  
  
"So do you and Brian."  
  
Jess walked over with their coats. "Hey Paris."  
  
Paris smiled. "Hey Jess."  
  
Jess turned to Rory. "So. You ready?"  
  
"Sure. Bye Paris."  
  
"Bye."  
  
They started to walk towards the door, and once out of Paris' earshot, Rory leaned in with an amused smile and whispered to him, "I think somebody's got a crush on you."  
  
"What?" Jess asked confused. "Who? Don't say Bunny."  
  
Rory giggled. "A certain Paris Gellar happens to think very highly of you."  
  
"Oh please." Jess tried to play it off as no big deal.  
  
"I'm serious. She thinks you're "pretty great." She told me so herself."  
  
Jess chuckled. "Whatever. Let's go get some coffee."  
  
  
  
***************************************  
  
  
  
The car ride into town was mostly silent; but it was a comfortable silence. Since it was pretty warm, Rory rolled her window down and looked up at the sky; she rarely got a chance to look at the stars in Hartford that late at night, and they were beautiful. Jess glanced at her.  
  
"Trying to find all those nifty constellations you learned about in Astronomy class?" He asked with a sly smile.  
  
Rory turned to him and smiled. "Nope. Just looking." She shifted her eyes back to the sky. "It's really beautiful."  
  
Jess sighed. "Might be more beautiful after we've got coffee."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Jess didn't look at her. He was not good at this whole romantic thing. In fact, it embarrassed him, even when they were alone. "We could maybe. you know, get the coffee, come back out here and." he chuckled as he added the last words, unable to contain his amusement at the thought. "We could stargaze."  
  
Rory snickered. "Stargaze? Never thought I'd hear that word come voluntarily out of your mouth."  
  
Jess laughed, feeling his cheeks flushed. "Whatever. Do you want to?"  
  
Rory contemplated. "Coffee and stargazing?" she paused, and smiled at Jess. "Sounds kinda perfect."  
  
  
  
************************************  
  
  
  
Look at the Stars  
  
Look how they shine for you And every thing you do Yeah they were all yellow... I came along I wrote a song for you And all the things you do And it was called Yellow...  
  
  
  
"Who is this band?" Jess asked softly. Rory could feel his breath in her ear and it tickled a little.  
  
She thought for a moment, listening to the music emanating from the car below them. "I think it's Coldplay."  
  
"Oh yeah..." Jess said. "Do you like them?"  
  
"Not really," Rory said. She turned her head towards him with a smile. "But right now it's not so bad." He chuckled a little and kissed her cheek before turning his attention back to the sky. The two of them had gotten coffee and several chocolate chip cookies from a little café in Hartford, and had come back to a nice secluded spot by the side of the road just to look at the stars. They'd sat on the hood of the car, leaning on the windshield, and initially Rory had tried to point out some constellations to him... or at least all the ones she could find, but after a few loving cracks from Jess about being a science nerd, the conversation virtually stopped. It was just really nice, being there together, leaning on each other and eating cookies. The music could have used some improvement; Jess' car radio only picked up a few stations, and since they couldn't find a tape, they had to leave it on an easy listening station. But it wasn't so bad... and yet then again, Rory admitted to herself, they could have had polka music playing, and it wouldn't have been able to distract her from how perfect things were.  
  
"What time is it?" Rory asked sleepily.  
  
Jess checked his watch. "Only 9:40. We've got a while." he smiled slyly and added, "Why, worried you're not gonna get home in time to catch your mom before she falls asleep so you can tell her EVERYTHING?"  
  
"More like worried that I'M gonna fall asleep." She sighed. "Mmmm... your arm is really comfortable. It's like this perfect mixture of muscle and.... Well, more muscle. But seriously. When you die, I think I'll make a pillow out of it."  
  
"Well," Jess laughed, "It's good to know you'll be able to see the positive aspects of my death."  
  
"Hey, the glass is always half full in my view. That's why they call me optimistic Rory. Well they don't actually. But they could, and they wouldn't be lying. That's the point."  
  
"I could call you Optimistic Rory if you want."  
  
"Good plan. Then it could catch on, and everyone could call me that. I'd be known for it. Like, someone new could come to town and the person showing them around could say, 'There's crazy Taylor, and Scruffy Luke, and Musical Morey, and Optimistic Rory.'"  
  
"Good job. You rhymed."  
  
Rory laughed. "But now I have to find a nick name for you."  
  
"Oh, great," Jess rolled his eyes.  
  
"Hmm. decisions, decisions. OK, do you see yourself as more of a Silly Pony or a Monkey boy?" Rory's lips curled up in an irrepressible smile.  
  
Jess tried hard not to let his laughter out, and leaned in towards her, saying, "You're gonna pay for that."  
  
Rory lowered her voice, and chanted with a sly smile, "Silly Pony, Silly Pony, Silly-"  
  
He cut her off with a kiss. Although Rory had something to say, she couldn't bring herself to pull away, and it was only a matter of seconds into the kiss that she'd completely forgotten what she'd meant to tell him. They both sank completely into the kiss, and it lasted quite a while before Jess rolled back and Rory leaned over him.  
  
"Ow!" she said, sitting up.  
  
"What?" Jess asked, confused. "Did I hurt you or something?"  
  
"No, I just rolled on top of something..." she felt in his jacket pocket something hard and smiled in amusement. "What? Are you packing heat now or something?"  
  
Jess sighed with reluctance. "I guess now's the time to do this, huh?" he sat up. Rory followed suit.  
  
"Now's the time to do what? What are you talking about?" Rory asked, confused. Jess wasn't even looking at her. He just pulled a little box out of his pocket; it wasn't wrapped and it didn't look like a present. But he handed it to her.  
  
"This is for you," he muttered, visibly embarrassed. Rory took it, completely unsure of what it could have been. To her surprise, inside it was a key.  
  
"It's-a key," she exclaimed, puzzled. Jess nodded.  
  
"Yeah it's the key to my trunk."  
  
Rory grinned. "I really hope you mean the trunk of your car, cuz otherwise I think that might be dirty."  
  
Jess chuckled. "Yeah, little miss mind-in-the-gutter. There are different locks on the car doors and the trunk. Cheap craftsmanship on the builder's part, if you ask me-"  
  
"You're giving me the key to your trunk?" she repeated.  
  
Jess scratched his head nervously. "Well, yeah."  
  
Rory giggled. "How romantic. The gift of storage space. I knew there was a reason I loved you."  
  
Jess rolled his eyes and got off the hood of the car. "Just go open the trunk, huh?"  
  
Rory hopped off the hood and Jess followed her around to the back. He stood a couple feet behind her, his arms folded, wishing the earth would open up and swallow him. Jess' nervous behaior made Rory feel anxious and uncomfortable, and she unlocked the trunk with caution; but as soon as it opened, a huge grin spread on her lips.  
  
"You got me a coffee maker!"  
  
She didn't take her eyes off the coffee maker to look at Jess, and he was grateful for this. He was running out of things to look at in order to avoid her eyes. He really wasn't good at all this romantic sappy stuff. "Yeah," he said. "It's for your dorm at Yale. Even though you'll probably be spending most of your free time around Stars Hollow and at home... you may need it. You never know."  
  
Rory turned to him, making it impossible for him not to look at her. "I LOVE it. It's perfect, really."  
  
Jess blushed a little, in spite of his efforts to remain cool, calm, and collected. "Yeah well I figured I might as well get that in case you didn't like the other gift."  
  
Rory's eyes widened in disbelief. "The other gift? You mean there's MORE? You're kidding."  
  
Jess gestured to the open trunk. "Look again."  
  
Rory turned back to the car and her eyes settled upon yet another small box, but this one was wrapped in a light pink paper and silver bow. She picked it up. "What did you do?" she asked, suspicious.  
  
"Hey, I didn't wrap it. The lady at the place did; I'm no Martha Stewart, I mean, if I'd had to wrap it, you would've been holding a crumpled paper bag right now. Or at least some kind of wrapping paper that wasn't just so pink." Rory slowly unwrapped the box as Jess kept rambling. "I mean, I tried to tell the lady at the place that you weren't an incredibly pink person, but she said all they had was pink paper or this weird plaid paper, and I think we can both agree that plaid doesn't really scream 'Rory'. Oh, well except for the fact that you wear it every day for Chilton. But that's your uniform, you didn't pick it out, some old fogey with way too much money who probably thinks plaid is stylish picked it out, it's not your choice-"  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
Rory had opened the box, and found inside it a beautiful silver pendant on a chain. "Jess." she said under her breath.  
  
"Turn it over," he said. "There's something on the back." On the back of the pendant was an engraved quote;  
  
If I know what love is, It is because of you.  
  
-Herman Hesse  
  
"Wow," Rory whispered. She couldn't even take her eyes off of it; half of her didn't even believe she was really looking at it. It was so unlike him.  
  
Meanwhile, the silence was killing him. He felt so embarrassed. He'd been looking for over a month for a gift for Rory, something she'd REALLY like. He'd finally settled on the idea of a necklace, but every time he came across a little diamond solitaire, or a string of little pearls, it just didn't seem like her. Rory wasn't into jewels and expensive things from Tiffany's. She liked stuff that MEANT something to her. So he'd finally decided on getting a quote; but finding one was much easier said than done. "The quote's kind of cheesy," he began. "Ok, REALLY cheesy. But it was the only one I could find that seemed.... RIGHT. I mean, it's kinda stupid. But hey, at least it's on the back of the pendant so no one ever even has to see it."  
  
Rory turned to him. "You don't like the quote?"  
  
"Well..." Jess put his hands in his pockets. "It's pretty sappy, you gotta admit."  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
"But just cuz I think it sounds sappy..." Jess paused and looked at the ground. "It doesn't mean that I don't mean it."  
  
Rory walked over to him. "I love you," she said with a smile. Jess smirked.  
  
"Stop it, you'll make me blush."  
  
She put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. "Here, help me put it on." She handed it to him.  
  
"You wanna wear it?" Jess asked.  
  
Rory smiled. "Well isn't that why you gave it to me? Or did you want me to put it on a key chain along with the key to your trunk?"  
  
Jess smiled and put the necklace around her neck. "Smart ass."  
  
"Sappy Romantic," Rory teased back.  
  
"You really like it?" Jess asked, disbelieving.  
  
"Of course I do! It's gorgeous and it means SO much. I couldn't have picked something better myself."  
  
"You're just saying that cuz you know how embarrassed I am."  
  
"I am not, I'm saying it cuz it's true. That, and you get this really cute smirk whenever I compliment you that I'm really enjoying."  
  
Jess laughed, putting his arms around Rory's waist. "Ok, now you're just taking advantage of my vulnerability, and I gotta tell ya', I really don't appreciate it." He chuckled, but Rory's face was completely serious. "What? What's the matter? You were really happy a couple seconds ago and now you're pulling a bipolar thing on me."  
  
Rory played anxiously with the lapels of his jacket. "Thank you for this. I mean, thank you for the necklace and the coffee maker... and also just for coming here with me. I know you didn't want to come-"  
  
"Yeah well, I was an idiot," Jess interrupted. "I should have known it wouldn't be bad. I mean, we got to talk books with a third party, we didn't have to waltz or talk to anybody named Bunny or Muffy or Cookie-"  
  
Rory giggled. "I told you there's no Muffy!"  
  
Jess continued. "And I didn't even mind the crappy music so much. Ya' know, it was cool cuz you were there, and that's really all that mattered....."  
  
Rory smiled. "You're really good at that."  
  
"At what?"  
  
Rory put her arms around his neck and giggled. "Talking pretty."  
  
Jess laughed. "You think I talk pretty huh?" Rory nodded. "Well," Jess continued, "That's... masculine....."  
  
Rory giggled. "Ok, shut up now please."  
  
"Now that's just offensive. A guy could get the feeling he's getting used-" Rory cut him off with a kiss. But the kiss that started off playful ended up much more serious. Rory pulled away and kept her eyes to the ground. She took a deep breath, and said determinedly, "Ok, let's go now."  
  
"What?" Jess asked confused.  
  
"Come on. Let's get in the car and go before I talk myself out of it." She strolled to the car and got in the front seat. Jess followed reluctantly and got into the drivers seat and started the ignition.  
  
"Before I go, could you at least clue me in as to why you suddenly just want to go home?"  
  
Rory looked at Jess and said meekly, "I don't wanna go home." She waited to see the look in his eyes that told her he knew what she meant, and then quickly looked away. But Jess still didn't hit the gas.  
  
"So we could go find a motel or something," he said awkwardly. "Just to be alone for a while, no pressure. We don't have to do anything."  
  
Rory smiled at him gratefully, leaned over and kissed him quickly. "Let's go."  
  
Jess smiled. "As you wish," he said as they drove back to the road.  
  
  
  
  
  
"I come bearing enchiladas!!!!" Sookie called, letting herself into the Gilmore household. Lorelai jumped up from her seat on the couch.  
  
"Oh, Sookie, you are a Goddess!" She cooed, peering inside the paper bags. "Mmmm smells like heaven. If I married you, would you cook for me EVERY day?"  
  
"Well, yeah, except that 1) two women can't marry in the states, and 2) already kinda married."  
  
Lorelai pouted. "Oh yeah. Damn that Jackson. He stole my woman."  
  
Sookie started walking back to the couch. "Come on, let's eat while they're still hot."  
  
Lorelai sat on the couch, twirling a strand of her hair in her fingers, staring into space. "You think I'll ever find a husband who can cook?"  
  
Sookie smirked. "Well, if you ever wake up, you could find one who can at least make a decent burger."  
  
Lorelai squinted with suspicion. "That was a pointed comment, and I'm aware, but I just have no energy to dispute the whole me and Luke thing right now, so let's just move on."  
  
Sookie handed her a plate with a sympathetic look. "How are you holding up?"  
  
Lorelai smiled. "I'm fine, Sookie."  
  
Sookie handed her a napkin. "How are you REALLY?"  
  
Lorelai caved. "Kind of a wreck," she admitted, viciously taking a bite out of her enchilada. "Am I crazy, Sookie? I mean, Rory's just going to her prom, it's not a big deal really. But I don't know I just feel like tonight is this monumental, hugely symbolic evening, like her real ascension from being my cute little girl to being RORY GILMORE, a... well, a WOMAN." Lorelai sighed. "I AM crazy."  
  
"You're not crazy," Sookie argued. "You and Rory are best friends. Most girls get to spend their proms with their best friends. Or at least they should. And especially since you never went to your prom, you probably just really want to be able to share this with her. That's totally normal."  
  
"Really?" Lorelai said, surprised. "My behavior is normal? Wow, that's so uncharacteristic of me."  
  
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Sookie said. "I'm not even related to Rory, and I wish I were there with her."  
  
Lorelai laughed. "Yeah. Although I guess it's probably a good thing we're not there. She's there with Jess and we all know what that means."  
  
"Aha. Sucking face. I get it."  
  
Lorelai looked at Sookie with her face all scrunched up in disgust. "Ew, Sookie, gross!"  
  
"Sorry. One of my friends from summer camp used to call it that and I guess it stuck with me."  
  
"Oh, well do you happen to remember her name? Cuz I'd like to track her down and ask her to reimburse me for my lost appetite." Lorelai put her plate down.  
  
"So things must be going well between her and Jess, huh?" Sookie said. "I mean, since things have lasted this long. Plus, he's going to CHILTON for her. That would be quite a sacrifice for a relationship that isn't going anywhere."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Yeah, they're sorta serious. And by sorta, I mean immensely." Lorelai sighed, and picked up her plate again, unable to resist the temptation. "I talked to Luke a while ago and he said Jess has been saving up for over a month to get Rory something for tonight."  
  
Sookie gasped. "Oh! You think it's an engagement ring?"  
  
Lorelai stared at her blankly. "No but I DO think you almost just gave me a heart attack."  
  
Sookie laughed. "I'm sorry. I guess that's pretty unlikely, huh? You know, since they're both still in high school and they've only been together a few months. no wait, 7 months now isn't it? Oh my gosh! They've been together for 7 months. They must act like an old married couple by now."  
  
Lorelai snickered. "Yeah if old married men listened to the Misfits and stole garden gnome's from their neighbor's gardens."  
  
Sookie sighed. "Right. Jess probably isn't the 'Old married couple' type huh?"  
  
Lorelai shook her head. "He sure isn't. And I think Rory appreciates that. As much as I hate to admit it, that quality of Dean's always did make me wonder how Rory kept from getting bored."  
  
As Lorelai took another bite of her food, the phone rang. "Hold on a sec, Sookie, that might be Rory," Lorelai said, trying not to seem to eager to talk to her as she answered the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Lorelai," Emily said on the other end enthusiastically. "Is she there?"  
  
Lorelai pretended not to know what she meant. "Is who where, mom?"  
  
Emily tried to contain her frustration with her daughter. "Rory, Lorelai. Is she at the prom?"  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes to Sookie. "Oh gosh was that tonight? Rory quick, get out of the tub and get your dress on! I'll call Jess!!!"  
  
"Lorelai!!!" Emily exclaimed. "I don't believe you would do such a-" she stopped short. "You're not very funny, Lorelai, do you know that?"  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Really mom? Cuz Sookie's sure laughing a lot."  
  
"Do you insist on making jokes at my expense no matter what I say?"  
  
Lorelai contemplated. "Hmm. Pretty much, yeah."  
  
Emily shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder if Rory's exposure to so many ill- mannered people might ruin her manners."  
  
"Don't worry mom. She'll always be the Gilmore family angel, no matter how much time she spends with Jess and me."  
  
"You say that now, Lorelai," Emily argued. "But you yourself weren't always the woman you are now."  
  
"Of course I wasn't mom," Lorelai retorted. "It would have been pretty bizarre if I'd been born a full sized woman with my vocabulary and knowledge of pop culture trivia. A medical marvel, but labor would probably have been pretty painful for you."  
  
Emily sighed. "You're very crude."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah well I try my best mom."  
  
"I've had nightmares about Rory growing up and saying some of the things that come out of your mouth sometimes."  
  
Lorelai finally gave up the sarcastic comments. "Really mom, don't worry. Rory's pure as Aquafina, and she's gonna stay that way. I promise."  
  
  
  
**************************  
  
"Wow," Rory said, looking around the motel room, her eyes resting on the TV and cable box. "Pretty swanky place, huh? Cable and everything for just 40 bucks a night." She giggled nervously. Jess returned an awkward smile from across the room.  
  
"Yeah, sorry we couldn't go someplace nicer. This is the only place close."  
  
Rory smiled. "No this is-great, really..." she trailed off and sat on the edge of the bed. "So um... I'll pay you back 20 the next time I see you."  
  
Jess looked confused. "What are you talking about? You don't owe me 20 dollars. I'm not a paid escort; believe it or not, I went to Chilton with you tonight of my own accord."  
  
"I know," Rory said. "I meant the room. It was 40 for the night, so I figured since we're both here, we could split it even."  
  
Jess laughed. "Yeah nice try. You're not paying me for this. I'm the one working 2 jobs, remember? You save your money up. I don't have anything better to spend my money on anyways."  
  
"Thanks," Rory said. She stared at the floor space between them. "So maybe at some point we should both be on the same side of the room, huh?"  
  
Jess nodded. "Yeah that might be a good idea." He paused for a second before sitting on the bed, being sure to leave a couple feet between them. Rory looked at him anxiously.  
  
"Hey," she offered. "Maybe we could turn on the TV for a while. You know, to break the ice a little."  
  
Jess grabbed the remote. "Good idea." He turned the tv on, but stopped himself and handed the remote to Rory. "Here, you can choose what to watch."  
  
Rory took the remote. "You know, you don't have to be extra polite and generous to me. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't force yourself to be. It's really unlike you and it's kinda freaking me out."  
  
Jess nodded. "Ok. Nix the perfect gentleman thing. Got it." He sighed. "Actually that's kind of a relief." He paused. "You can keep the remote, though."  
  
Rory sighed and started flipping through the channels. She stopped, seeing Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy on the screen.  
  
"Oooh!" she said, excitedly, suddenly forgetting the awkwardness of the situation. "The breakfast club!"  
  
"Yay!" Jess said sarcastically, chuckling at Rory's enthusiasm.  
  
"Stop," she said, elbowing him softly. "I love this movie. I used to want to be Claire in this movie when I was little."  
  
Jess raised his eyebrow. "Lorelai let you watch this when you were little?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah, mom wasn't exactly the best judge of what were acceptable movies for her 8 year old to watch. But we still used to watch it together and she'd try for the first 20 minutes or so to cover my ears whenever they swore. But by the scene when they all get high, she'd always have given up."  
  
Jess laughed. "You wanted to be Claire? Which one's she?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Molly Ringwald. She's the misunderstood prom queen who ends up with the bad boy rebel by the time detention's over, Remember?"  
  
Jess snickered. "Yeah. Good role model."  
  
"Yeah well at least mine was better than my mom's. She wanted to be Ally Sheedy."  
  
Jess raised his eyebrows. "Isn't she the nut case? The pathological liar who has random outbursts and apparently serious dandruff problems?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah. But I think it was more the ending-up-with-Emilio- Estevez part that appealed to Lorelai most."  
  
"I see," Jess said. "I guess that makes sense."  
  
They watched in silence for a few minutes. The movie was almost over already. But Rory's plan had worked well. The movie had broken the ice pretty well, and by the time the credits started rolling, they were both leaning on the backboard of the bed, Rory's head on Jess's shoulder, his arm around her back. Jess sighed.  
  
"You know, come to think of it, I really liked that movie too."  
  
Rory looked at him skeptically. "Yeah I bet."  
  
"No really," he replied. "I did. I really liked Bender. I mean everyone thought he was such an ass hole, acting the way he did... and I guess he was. But he had a reason, you know? He wasn't just acting up for the hell of it." Jess paused. "Plus he had an impressively wide vocabulary of insults."  
  
Rory laughed. "Yeah. I always used to like him too. My mom thought he was an ass hole, but I thought he was just misunderstood." Rory readjusted her head on Jess' shoulder, still watching the credits roll. But Jess stared at the wall, trying really hard not to let his trademark way-too-cool attitude prevent him from just being honest with her.  
  
"I love that you just said that," he said quietly. He didn't have to say anything more; Rory could tell from his tone that he didn't just appreciate her understanding of the character. They could have been talking about Jess himself. Rory didn't say a thing. She just slowly picked up the remote and turned the TV off. Neither one of them moved for a few moments. They just sat there, staring into space, both knowing what was going to happen. The room was mostly dark except for the stream of dim light entering the room through the cracked open bathroom door. Rory gently intertwined her fingers with Jess'. They both looked at their interlaced hands.  
  
"Are you really sure about this?" Jess asked softly.  
  
Rory looked at him. "Yeah. I'm really sure." She looked down again. "You should probably kiss me now before this silence gets any more awkward."  
  
Jess smiled. "Don't have to tell me twice." He leaned in and kissed her softly, his hand resting lightly on her hip. Rory ran her fingers through his hair, wondering why she'd ever been so nervous about this. She knew it would be fine. She felt safer in his hands than anyone else's.  
  
Within a few minutes, they were completely horizontal on the bed, although still completely dressed. One of the straps of Rory's dress slipped off her shoulder, and out of habit, Jess reached up to put it back into place. Mid- kiss, Rory chuckled. Jess stopped kissing her, confused. "What's so funny?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Nothing. Just..." she gestured to the strap. "You didn't really have to do that."  
  
Jess paused. "Right," he said, laughing at himself. "That would make sense, wouldn't it?"  
  
Rory nodded, giggling a little. They stayed there, just looking at each other for a moment, before Rory sat up spontaneously. She stood, her back towards him. Jess sat up, confused, and tried not to sound too disappointed.  
  
"You changed your mind?" he asked.  
  
Rory couldn't look at him as she said, "Could you help me with the zipper?"  
  
Jess swallowed hard. "Oh... uh yeah, sure." He stood awkwardly and unzipped her dress slowly; he felt weird, seeing the blue fabric of her strapless bra.  
  
Rory sighed. "Here goes nothing," she said under her breath, and slipped the dress off, placing it gently on a nearby chair, not once looking at Jess. She took a deep breath and turned toward him, being really grateful to see his eyes only on her face.  
  
His lips curled up a little. "I keep having this weird image in my head, that if I look at you, your mom's gonna come bursting in here and start beating me with her handbag."  
  
Rory smiled. "Yeah well it might be easier for both of us if we kept our eyes on each others faces. At least for a while, you know?"  
  
Jess nodded. "I agree... is it just me or does this situation remind you of the day we first got together, when Luke burst in on us?"  
  
"More than slightly," Rory replied.  
  
Jess paused. "Can I kiss you?"  
  
Rory sighed. "That would be a good first step." She took a step toward him, and he took both of her hands in his, just as he had the day they'd had their first attempted kiss as a real couple.  
  
"Hi," Jess said with a boyish grin. Rory returned the smile.  
  
"Hi."  
  
He kissed her, and she felt the same butterflies in her stomach she had the first time they'd kissed; GOOD butterflies. She wasn't even embarrassed at her near nudity. His hands rested lightly on her hips, which gave her room to pull his jacket off of him and unbutton his shirt. His skin was so smooth, and his hands felt amazing on her bare skin; she was like putty in his hands, completely at his mercy.  
  
Their lips never leaving each other, they stumbled back toward the bed and, rather ungracefully, fell upon it. Rory laughed a little as they fell, and Jess chuckled too, kissing her neck. She loved how serious he could be, and yet playful and fun at the same time. After he moved the covers aside to allow them both to crawl under them, she kissed his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," he answered her, and he kissed her. They lay back on the bed, and crossed the one bridge that can never be uncrossed.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: More comes soon guys I promise. It'll be a lot easier to write now that I got the love scene out of the way!!! Hehehe.  
  
I thought at first that I would try to respond to all the reviews you guys give me by email.but I just don't have time. So just know that I am sooooooooooo grateful to you guys for your reviews. They've been so nice and incredibly helpful. Please keep reviewing!!! Thanks!  
  
~Emaline 


	4. Come Away With Me

+ .  
  
Part 5 Come away with me  
Come away with me in the night  
  
Come away with me  
  
And I will write you a song  
Come away with me on a bus  
  
Come away where they can't tempt us  
  
With their lies  
  
I want to walk with you  
  
On a cloudy day  
  
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high...  
The piano music with Norah Jones' warm, soft voice filled the room with comfort. Rory and Jess lay, under the covers, her head resting on his forehead, their fingers intertwined.  
  
"I'd live in London, late 70's and early 80's," Jess said.  
  
"I could have guessed that," Rory said. "I ask you if you could live anywhere, anytime, where would you live, and just as I predicted, you just want to be anywhere that you could meet the Clash."  
  
"And the Sex Pistols," Jess added. "Don't forget the Sex Pistols."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, how could I forget such a thing?" Rory said, mocking him playfully. Jess played absentmindedly with a strand of her hair. "Ok," Rory said. "You're turn."  
  
Jess sighed. "All right. Let's see..." he paused. "Ok. If you could meet any person, dead or alive, who would it be?"  
  
"Oh come on!" Rory objected. "That's such a cliché question. Besides you already know it would be Vir-"  
  
"Virginia Woolf," Jess finished for her. "Just so you could prove how bogus and inaccurate 'The Hours' was."  
  
Rory sighed. "I have a legitimate opinion!" she paused, and added in a quieter voice, "They really have to stop trying to make movies out of books."  
  
Jess chuckled. "See, I already know all there is to know about you. There's nothing left to ask."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Rory challenged him. "I bet you don't know about the infamous pineapple cake incident, do you?"  
  
"No," Jess asked, unsure of whether he ought to be curious, amused, or frightened. "What pineapple cake incident?"  
  
"I'm not gonna tell," Rory said in a sing song-y voice.  
  
"Aw, come on!" Jess protested, pulling her closer to him. "You're such a tease sometimes."  
  
"Yes, well," Rory said slyly, "Every woman needs an element of mystery to keep people interested."  
  
Jess sighed. "I don't think you have to worry about me losing interest," he said. "ESPECIALLY not after this."  
  
Rory smiled to herself, playing with his fingers. "This WAS really nice, wasn't it?"  
  
"I'd say nice is an understatement," Jess responded.  
  
Rory looked up at him. "How much time do we have?"  
  
Jess checked the clock. "It's 11:30," he said. "We don't have to leave for another hour and a half. No worries."  
  
Rory readjusted her head upon his bare chest with a smile. "Good. Cuz I'm really comfortable right now. Like on a scale of one to ten, ten being the most comfortable you could possibly be, this is like a 78."  
  
Jess laughed. "Yeah see? You can have my arm as a pillow without me being dead. You don't even have to sever it from my body like you previously planned."  
  
"Yeah," Rory nodded. "I like it better this way. Less blood."  
  
Jess smiled to himself. She was so amazing; he couldn't even imagine what he'd ever done in his life to deserve something this good.  
  
Rory sighed. "So this is pillow talk."  
  
"Yeah," Jess replied. "I guess it is."  
  
"Now I understand what all the fuss is about," Rory said. "Pillow talk is nice. I mean, where else does one get a chance to bring up the infamous pineapple incident? And then of course, drive you crazy by not explaining it."  
  
"Like I said before," Jess said. "You're a tease."  
  
Rory rubbed the pendant Jess had given her between her thumb and forefinger, feeling the brand new engravings and the flawless metal. "I'm never gonna take this off," she said.  
  
Jess watched her. "It looks good on you."  
  
Rory kissed his shoulder. "I don't wanna leave. You think anyone'll notice if we just never come home and start living here?"  
  
"Yeah, but only because Lorelai will get bored without you and whine so incessantly that no one could forget our absence if they tried."  
  
Rory laughed. "You have a point. My mother's not exactly the best at handling my absence maturely." She paused. "But I guess we'll just have to force her to get used to it."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Rory smiled at him. "I think I'm gonna be wanting to spend a little less time at home from now on and a little more time... well, anywhere we can guarantee she won't walk in on us." She giggled.  
  
"Rory Gilmore," Jess teased. "I'm shocked at you. What would your mother say?"  
  
"Nothing probably. I think she's still happily in denial of the fact that I'm not 12 anymore and I don't think boys have cooties. But someday she'll wake up, smell the coffee, and realize that the resident James Dean has corrupted her poor innocent daughter."  
  
"And then what happens?" Jess asked.  
  
"Then she tries to kill you," Rory stated simply. "But don't worry. I'll protect you."  
  
"You will?" Jess asked, skeptically. "Care to explain how?"  
  
"I dunno," Rory answered. "I'll take Karate lessons."  
  
"Wax on, wax off, Daniel Son," Jess added, as the two erupted in laughter. As their laughs faded, Rory pulled the covers up tighter.  
  
"Don't let me fall asleep," she said, closing her eyes and yawning.  
  
"It looks like it's a little too late for that," Jess commented. He kissed her forehead. "I'll wake you up when it's time to leave."  
  
Rory left her eyes closed as she spoke. "Hey someday after graduation, let's go run away somewhere."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Wherever," she answered. "But you can't plan it. That takes away the element of spontaneity that makes the whole thing exhilarating."  
  
Jess shook his head. "Only you could find a way to use the word exhilarating while half asleep."  
  
Rory yawned. "Yep. That's me. Wordy Rory. I like big words. They're fun..." she trailed off. "Gotta love those big-wordy-- words..."  
  
Jess chuckled to himself as Rory fell asleep, shaking his head and thinking to himself, "God, has she ever ruined my image..." But he just couldn't seem to care.  
...So won't you try to come  
  
Come away with me and we'll kiss  
  
On a mountaintop  
  
Come away with me  
  
And I'll never stop loving you  
  
And I want to wake up with the rain  
  
Falling on a tin roof  
  
While I'm safe there in your arms  
  
So all I ask is for you  
  
To come away with me in the night  
  
Come away with me...  
A/N: I know I know it was way too short. but I wanted the next part to start the next morning so. the next part comes soon I promise, I already have a lot of it done. Please review. Seriously. And be critical because it honestly does help my creative process (lol). Even email me, tell me where you want the storyline to go. if your criticism is constructive I might just follow your advice!!! Hehehe ok as always if you're reading this, it automatically means I love you. keep reading guys more comes soon (big plot twists!!!! Mwahahahahahah..)  
  
~Emaline 


	5. This One's Gonna Stick

Part 6  
  
THIS ONE'S GONNA STICK  
  
Tonight you're mine completely  
  
You give your love so sweetly  
  
Tonight, the light of love is in your eyes  
  
But will you love me tomorrow?  
  
I'd like to know that your love  
  
Is love I can be sure of  
  
So tell me now  
  
And I won't ask again  
  
Will you still love me tomorrow?  
Rory rolled over in bed to hear the Shirelle's song playing on the radio in the kitchen. "Oh how pleasantly ironic," she muttered to herself sarcastically, trying to cover her ears with her pillow and fall back asleep. But her mother would have no such thing.  
  
"Hello?" Lorelai called to Rory, opening her bedroom door. "Wake up, sleeping beauty!"  
  
Rory groaned, rolling over. "Ugh!" she grunted, chucking a small stuffed animal at the fuzzy figure her tired eyes could barely make out standing in the door way.  
  
"Hey!" Lorelai exclaimed, strolling over and sitting on the side of her daughter's bed. "I think your aim is getting better! You actually got the thing to hit the right part of the wall this time."  
  
Rory covered her eyes with her hands to block out the glaring sunlight. "I'll sign up for the softball team next week."  
  
Lorelai handed her a cup. "Coffee, Oscar?"  
  
Rory took the cup, propping herself up on one elbow. "Yes, thank you!" She took a long sip, a long sigh, and looked at her mother questioningly. "Did you just call me Oscar?"  
  
Lorelai grinned. "Yup. Clever huh?"  
  
"Clever, random, nonsensical; what's the difference, huh?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Oscar the grouch, Rory! You know, cuz you were being so grouchy."  
  
Rory put her cup down and sat up. "Well I think I have every right to be grouchy when my annoyingly perky mother comes waltzing into my room on Sunday morning at 8 AM, knowing very well that I am exhausted-"  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I know, I know, shame on me for being such a hypocrite, you would never wake me up this early on Sunday morning, blah blah blah. But I have a legitimate reason."  
  
"I'm all ears," Rory said.  
  
"I woke up at 6 this morning because I was so anxious to hear about last night."  
  
Rory's eyes widened. "No! You're kidding."  
  
Lorelai smiled proudly. "I kid you not, my friend. I, Lorelai Gilmore, queen of the Lazy Sunday activities, or rather lack there of, actually woke up at 6 AM. Willingly!"  
  
"It's fascinating," Rory said.  
  
"I know," Lorelai responded. "Even I was confused about it at first. At 5:30 I started waking up, but talked myself into sleeping again, cuz it wasn't even light out yet, and I just KNEW that wasn't right." She sighed. "Ok, tell me something about last night quick, before my head explodes."  
  
Rory squinted her eyes in disgust. "Ew, Mom, WHY would your head explode?"  
  
"I don't know, why would you be so cruel as to torture your mother by dangling juicy information over her head just out of reach?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok, calm down." She smiled. "It was really fun."  
  
Lorelai smiled, sharing her excitement, and wishing more than anything that she could have shared the experience with her. "It was?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah. I mean I was surprised. I didn't really expect to have much fun at any more Chilton events, since the last two ended rather badly. But this was completely lacking fist fights, angry mothers and grandmothers, break ups, awkward kisses, and crying."  
  
"Well I'm glad to hear it," Lorelai said. "How was Jess?"  
  
Rory smiled, trying not to let on just how amazing he'd been. "Perfect." She paused. "He talked to Paris about books, he didn't insult anyone-"  
  
"Really?" Lorelai asked, incredulously.  
  
"Well not to their face," Rory admitted. Lorelai nodded. "But they played Britney Spears at one point, and instead of just leaving like he'd said he would, he just covered his ears and waited it out."  
  
"Very mature," Lorelai commented.  
  
"He even danced," Rory said. Lorelai gasped. "I know, unbelievable, right?"  
  
"I'll say," Lorelai replied. "So what kind of dance was it? Diana Ross Disco? Michael Jackson Moonwalk? Techno Breakdancing? Or did he go all out with the romance, stick a rose in his teeth, and to the tango on a balcony in the moonlight?"  
  
"Ok it's official. Your level of rationality really doesn't increase when you wake up earlier."  
  
"I can accept that," Lorelai said. "So uh... did you guys stay at the prom the whole time?"  
  
Rory thought quick, trying to decide just how much of the truth she should reveal to her mother. "Uh, no. We left kinda early."  
  
"Oooooo," Lorelai swooned sarcastically. "Where'd you guys go?"  
  
"Well, he took me to get coffee at a café in town-"  
  
"Hmmm, nothing says I love you like a free cup of coffee for a Gilmore Girl. Then what?"  
  
"We just went somewhere and watched the stars for a while." Rory watched her mother squirm, trying to suppress her laughter. Rory rolled her eyes. "I know I know, tacky. But it was nice." She paused. "You have to PROMISE you won't tell him that you know."  
  
"I can pretty much guarantee that the next time I see him, I'll probably be far too debilitated with laughter to form any kind of understandable sentence." She tried to regain her composure. "Oh hey, Luke told me that Jess got you a gift. What was it?"  
  
Rory made the split second decision not to tell her about the coffee maker, for fear of the fact that Lorelai would try to "borrow" it and use it herself, inevitably breaking it eventually. "He got me this," she said, pulling the pendant out from the place it hung underneath her tee shirt. Lorelai gasped upon seeing the necklace.  
  
"Oh Rory!" She said in a breathy, fascinated voice. "That is incredible." Lorelai pouted. "I want a pretty young boy to buy me a necklace."  
  
Rory giggled. "Pedophile."  
  
"Ugh!" Lorelai gasped. "I am offended. Just cuz I seem to express an interest in younger men does not mean I'm going to take it to the illegal level. I'm not looking for a boy scout."  
  
"Then who?"  
  
"Hmmm... oh I know! Taye Diggs in 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back'. I think it's time I regained my groove."  
  
"Yes," Rory nodded. "You have been sorely lacking in the groove department lately."  
  
Lorelai stood and headed for the door. "Ok, I have to go to the Inn. If you're really tired you can sleep for a while, but just know that Lane has called you eight times in the past half hour, and if you don't call her back soon, I can't guarantee that she won't kill you next time you see her."  
  
Rory reached over and grabbed the portable phone sitting on her bedside table. "I'm on it."  
  
"Ok," Lorelai replied. "There's money in Betty Boop for food and videos, etc. I'll probably be back late cuz there's this party going on for this guy with a tremendous stick up his butt, you know the deal."  
  
"Sounds fun," Rory giggled.  
  
"I'll call. Have fun babe!" Lorelai walked out the front door, and Rory watched her walk out to the street before dialing the phone. Lane picked up immediately.  
  
"Hello?!?!" She answered, a little too enthusiastically.  
  
"Hi, Lane. Breathe."  
  
Lane inhaled and exhaled, and then spoke in a quieter voice. "Hey! What's up?"  
  
"Not much," Rory answered, heading up the stairs to get some money out of her mother's Betty Boop shaped safe. She sighed. "Actually, that was a huge lie. A lot is up."  
  
Lane squealed with excitement. "Oh my gosh you're killing me here, give me something, ANYTHING, please?"  
  
Rory smiled. "I wanna tell you in person. Can we hang out today?"  
  
"Of course, of course," Lane answered. "Let's get breakfast."  
  
"Ok," Rory said. "But not at Luke's."  
  
"Right," Lane said. "Al's pancake world it is. I'll meet you there in half an hour?"  
  
"Sure. Bye Lane!" Rory hung up, smiling, so glad to hear Lane's voice, and so happy to know that there was at least one person besides Jess that she could talk to about this. She fingered the pendant around her neck, trying to remember every moment of the night before. Her legs were sore, and she felt completely self conscious that she might be walking funny, so she made the conscious decision to wear a skirt that day. Catching her eye in the mirror, she noticed that she had a goofy smile still on her face. "God," she muttered to herself. "I look like I slept with a hanger in my mouth." She snickered at her own silliness, but paused. Impulsively, she went into her drawer of things she kept of Jess; the books he'd lent her, the tickets to the concert he'd taken her to, and the few candid photos she'd managed to get of him, or of the both of them together. She took out one photo-her favorite of the two of them-which portrayed them both at the Distiller's concert they'd gone to months earlier, posing, both wearing their newly bought Distillers Tee-shirts. She liked this one in particular, because it was one of them few photos that had been taken of Jess too quickly for him to mask his plain old happiness with tough guy attitude. She got out one of the frames that had been empty for months since photos of Dean no longer occupied them. For months, she'd been subconsciously weary of putting pictures of Jess in frames, or doing anything else that acknowledged anyone's permanent presence in her life. So many things had happened the past few years which convinced her that every relationship she had would probably be temporary; Her father's leaving after promising to stay, her English teacher and almost step father suddenly disappearing from her life, her sudden- ok, not so sudden, but still heartbreaking- breakup with Dean. But now with a smile, she put her and Jess' picture in the frame and placed it on her desk. "This one's gonna stick," she thought to herself, and continued getting dressed and ready to go out.  
****************************  
"Earth to Jess!" Luke called. "Come in, space boy!"  
  
Jess turned to Luke. "What are you babbling about now?" he asked.  
  
"The table by the window has been occupied for over 10 minutes already and you haven't even stopped by to see what they want to drink. Could you get it together please and quit being so wrapped up in your thoughts that all you can do is dry dishes?"  
  
Jess put his towel down. He really wasn't in the mood to give Luke a hard time that day. "As you wish," he said smugly and walked to the table by the window. Luke stared after him, confused. Jess hadn't followed Luke's orders with that little back talk since... well come to think of it, never.  
  
"Somebody's in a good mood," Kirk remarked from his seat at the counter.  
  
"Eat your grilled cheese, Kirk," Luke commanded him harshly before walking into the back room.  
  
"Good morning ladies," Jess said to Miss Patty and Babette. They both smiled at him like grandmothers getting ready to pinch children's cheeks.  
  
"Well hello there, Jess," Miss Patty said. "How are you this morning?"  
  
"I'm just peachy keen," he said sarcastically, putting an unusual amount of effort into not sounding too harsh.  
  
"Ooooo," Babette teased. "Looks like someone had a good time last night." Of course, the entire town was aware that he and Rory had gone to the Chilton prom the night before. It wasn't as if they had anything better to discuss than the love lives of their favorite local teenagers, especially Rory.  
  
Jess tried his hardest, but couldn't help the corners of his lips curling up just a little bit before he evaded the question. "Can I get you two anything to drink?"  
  
"We'll both have some coffee, please," Miss Patty said, still smiling at him smugly.  
  
"Coming right up," he said, walking away from the table as fast as he could before his cheeks started turning red. He poured some coffee into two cups and tried his hardest to stop picturing the way Rory looked when she slept. 'She's ruined me,' he thought to himself as he brought the cups to the window.  
  
"Here you go-" he began, but he stopped short, catching sight of Rory walking down the other side of the street. She looked away from him quickly, but soon turned her head back to him with a slight smile. He returned the knowing glance and watched a while longer as she walked away.  
  
"Be sure to invite us to the wedding, Romeo." Miss Patty's comment and Babette's laughter brought him back to reality. He turned and headed back to the counter.  
  
"These are completely inhumane working conditions," he called back to them, but their laughter didn't cease. Everyone in town thought he was a goner, and for him there was no escaping the fact that it was completely true.  
*************************  
Rory and Lane walked into the Gilmore house, breakfasts in hand.  
  
"Ok," Lane said as soon as the door was closed. "Tell me EVERYTHING. I'm about ready to keel over and die right now from the anticipation."  
  
Rory smiled. "Ok. Readers digest version? It was amazing."  
  
"It?" Lane asked. "Does IT mean what I think IT means? Well duh, I mean of course it does. If you did what you were planning to last night, it's totally expected that it would be the only thing on your mind. You did do what you were planning to do last night, right? Cuz if you had changed your mind and actually not done what you were planning to, now would probably be the time to tell me so I can stop hyperventilating."  
  
Rory laughed. "Yeah. We did."  
  
Lane squealed. "Oh my God! This is huge. Monumental. Like an Eiffel Tower kind of monumental."  
  
"I know," Rory said. "Everything feels... different, you know?"  
  
"No I don't know," Lane replied. "Explain it to me. Different bad or different good?"  
  
"Different good," Rory answered. "Definitely different good. Better." She sighed. "Everything about the evening was like fairy tale perfect."  
  
"I'm so jealous," Lane said. "Dave and I barely get the chance to see each other. We kiss occasionally. That's it. I don't even know why he puts up with it." Lane stopped. "But this conversation is about you, so I'm gonna temporarily put thoughts of Dave on the back burner and focus on you."  
  
Rory went on to tell Lane all about the prom, and the gifts he gave her after they left, and all the things he said to her. She felt so relieved to tell someone; it would make it somewhat easier to keep the secret from her mother.  
  
"You're so lucky," Lane said. "My mother wouldn't give me the freedom to go anywhere where I could be alone with a guy for a few minutes, much less a few hours." She took a bite of her bagel. "Are you gonna see him tonight?"  
  
"Hopefully," Rory said. "My Mom's gonna be at the Inn late tonight so... you never know." She smiled. Lane giggled.  
  
"You are so BAD!" she teased. "Not that I blame you. I would be too if I had the opportunity."  
  
Rory sighed with a smile. "I don't think things are ever gonna be the same now..." she said. "And I mean that in the best way possible."  
**************************  
"Lorelai," Michel said from behind the front desk. "How kind of you to show up today."  
  
Lorelai walked behind the desk, looking at the notepad by the phone to check for messages, not even looking up to acknowledge his presence.  
  
Michel tried again, hardly pleased at having to work to get her attention. "Lorelai, perhaps you might like to know that your chef and your client for the event tonight are currently in a rather relentless conflict and the client is threatening to cancel."  
  
Lorelai smiled at him. "Michel, try as you might, you're not going to get on my nerves today. I'm in far too good a mood, so you might as well explain the problem in plain English and save your breath."  
  
Michel sighed, a long drawn out, melodramatic French man's sigh. "If you insist, I will put it for you like a caveman."  
  
"Sounds good to me, maybe then I could get outta here faster," Lorelai replied enthusiastically.  
  
"Well then here it is," Michel said. "Client want Pasta. Sookie too arrogant to make pasta. Client stubborn. Sookie more stubborn. Shall I continue or can you do the rest of the math yourself?"  
  
Lorelai smiled tauntingly. "Thank you so much, Michel, you're always so helpful."  
  
"Well do not get used to it," he said bitterly as Lorelai strolled into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey Sookie?" She said sweetly to her chef, who was currently sitting bitterly with her arms crossed, staring at a raw duck on the counter top.  
  
"What do you want?" Sookie snarled.  
  
Lorelai sat on a stool next to her. "Sweetie, I know as well as you do that these people are probably the biggest idiots since those guys who created Who wants to Marry a Millionaire, because one would have to be an idiot to ask the best chef in the world to make plain old pasta."  
  
"Damn straight," Sookie interjected.  
  
"However," Lorelai continued, "These people are paying us money. Money, my dear, is the currency which keeps not only our inn, but our country's economy from failing. Therefore, since they are threatening to cancel, should we not serve them the aforementioned pasta, it would really be in our best interest to just bite the bullet and do what they ask of us."  
  
"Absolutely not," Sookie said, standing. "Would you like some coffee? I'll make a fresh pot."  
  
Lorelai winced. "Damn if only you didn't know exactly the right way to distract me," she said. "Make some extra extra strong please."  
  
Sookie got out the coffee beans. "I refuse to talk anymore about these stupid pasta people. I want to hear about Rory's prom. How did it go?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Apparently, better than most."  
  
"Aww," Sookie swooned. "That's so fantastic! Did she tell you everything?"  
  
"Well she told me a lot," Lorelai responded. "But since I wasn't there, I guess there's really no way for me to know if she told me everything or not. Hell there could have been 2, three line dances in her evening and I might never even know."  
  
"Line dancing?" Sookie asked, confused. "I didn't know kids these days did anything on dance floors expect grope each other."  
  
"No they dance sometimes. They do a little cotton eyed Joe, a little electric slide, some Venga Boys dances, maybe even some Macarena if the DJ knows what's good for him."  
  
"Ah the Macarena," Sookie reminisced. "Life in the days of the Macarena. I miss those days."  
  
"Yes," Lorelai agreed. "Life certainly was simpler back then."  
  
"Sexier."  
  
"Funner."  
  
"More lively."  
  
"Ok, Sook, now you're screwing up the pattern."  
  
"What pattern?"  
  
"It has to end in an 'er'."  
  
"Oh right. Livelier."  
  
"Macarena-ier..." Lorelai paused. "And hence the pattern ended."  
  
"So besides the possibility of a Macarena, how else was Rory's evening?"  
  
"Sounded amazing," Lorelai popped some chocolate chips from the nearby half used bag into her mouth. "I believe the exact word she used to describe Jess was 'Perfect'."  
  
"Oh!" Sookie exclaimed. "Sounds about right for a young girl in love!"  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Yep. And you know what occurred to me?"  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"She has REALLY whipped that boy into shape the past few months!" Lorelai said. "I mean, 3 months ago, she could barely count on him to call when he said he would, and now here he is, giving her necklaces and stargazing with her."  
  
Sookie looked confused, "I- But- Because- But how-"  
  
"Sook?" Lorelai asked concerned. "Are you having some kind of episode? Should I call 911?"  
  
"No," Sookie said," Just-too many things to say, can't choose one-"  
  
"It's ok, honey," Lorelai stood and put a comforting arm on her shoulder. "Just breathe. One word at a time."  
  
Sookie sighed. "He stargazed with her, AND he gave her a necklace?"  
  
Lorelai grinned. "Yeah I know. Incredible, right?"  
  
"What kind of necklace? Is it real?"  
  
"No actually it was a magazine cut out of a necklace, but don't tell Rory because she's completely fooled by it."  
  
"Very funny. I mean is it real silver or real gold or whatever it was?"  
  
"Yep, real silver. Sterling stamp and all."  
  
Sookie sunk onto her chair, dreamily. "Oh wow. I'm jealous."  
  
"Join the club, sister." Lorelai said, sinking into a chair next to her.  
  
Sookie sighed. "She's so lucky. Her boyfriend adores her. Can't you just tell how much he adores her? I mean even if he hadn't gotten her the necklace, it's still just so obvious. God they must be so happy together..."  
  
Sookie trailed off, a gleam in her eyes and a dreamy smile on her lips. Lorelai eyed her to make sure the look didn't fade too soon, and cautiously said, "You in a good mood, Sookie?"  
  
Sookie nodded.  
  
"A good enough mood to make some pasta?"  
  
Sookie nodded. "What the hell? I'll be too distracted imagining their prom night to make anything better anyway." Sookie stood and headed to the stove. Michel came in, anxious, holding the portable phone in his hand.  
  
"It's Mr. Stevenson," he whispered. "The man paying for dinner tonight. What should I tell him?"  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Tell him it's in the bag." She stood and headed for the doorway. "And be sure to tell him he's got a certain Mr. Mariano to thank for it."  
*********************************  
Rory opened the front door for Jess.  
  
"I come bearing Pizza," he said, barely able to contain his happiness to see her.  
  
"Bless you, good man!" She said, taking the box and stepping aside to let him in. He followed her to the kitchen as she got out two plates.  
  
"You Gilmores," he said, shaking his head. "I'll never understand it. When the two of you like to eat as much as you do, you'd think eventually one or the other of you would learn to cook something."  
  
"You have a point," she admitted, walking towards him. "But if I didn't need a man to provide me with food, then what excuse would I have to invite you over while my mother's not home?"  
  
"You have a better point," he said, putting his arms around her waist. She gently pulled the collar of his denim jacket to pull him close enough to her for a kiss.  
  
"So..." Jess said. "Long time no see, huh?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Too long."  
  
"A whole night, morning and afternoon," Jess joked. "The separation was unbearable."  
  
"Intolerable." Rory played along.  
  
"Excruciating."  
  
"Whatever did you do all that time you were missing me?" Rory joked.  
  
"Well let's just say I had this overwhelming urge to eat ice cream straight out of the pint and watch a Hugh Grant movie while reminiscing about the good old days when you were around all the time."  
  
Rory giggled. "Hey, I fully support your getting in touch with you feminine side; just promise you won't start asking me if you can try on my clothes or anything?"  
  
Jess chuckled. "I'll try to suppress the urge." He kissed her neck. "What time's your mom coming home?"  
  
"Uh... late I guess. I don't know, she said she'd call." Jess continued leaving soft kisses on her neck and cheek. "Uh, look..."  
  
Jess halted. "I'm not liking the direction that 'Uh, look' seems to be going."  
  
Rory smiled. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad, really, I just..." she tried to find the right words. "I don't know if you were planning on... you know, repeating the events of last night here tonight, but we can't. Not that I wouldn't want to I mean... it's just, it's probably not the best idea right now, seeing as how my mother sort of lives here and she tends to show up here unannounced on occasion-"  
  
"Oh hey, enough said," Jess interrupted her. "I wasn't counting on it or anything. I sort of figured it wouldn't happen anyway. No big let down here."  
  
"Oh..." Rory said, somewhat relieved. "Well good." She sighed. "And we're back to the awkward silence, ladies and gentlemen."  
  
Jess smiled. "Hey it's our trademark. It'd be a shame to give it up now."  
  
"So," Rory began, "We never really got a chance to talk after..."  
  
"After you fell asleep?" Jess finished for her.  
  
"Nice way to word it," she said. "Do you think we should?"  
  
"Fall asleep?"  
  
"Talk about it. I mean, we might just wanna discuss it a little. Just to make sure we're on the same page here."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Jess said. "But can we talk over pizza? I'm a little hungry."  
  
"Of course," she smiled, ecstatic that he wasn't gonna turn out to be one of those guys who wanted to ignore the emotional factors of sex and refused to talk afterwards. "Here." She handed him his plate, and after getting their pizza they went to the living room to eat. They sat side by side on the couch  
  
"So," Rory said after taking a bite. "How should we start this off?"  
  
"However you'd like," Jess said. "As long as it doesn't include some Celine Dion type duet proclaiming our everlasting love for each other. Not that I don't love you, it's just that Celine Dion's really not my cup of tea."  
  
Rory smiled. "Well as long as we've got that ruled out..." She laughed. "Well uh... maybe I should just start off by saying... it was nice. Really nice."  
  
"Oh stop," Jess said sarcastically with an amused smile. "You flatter me too much."  
  
"You know what I mean," Rory said. "It was better than nice. Deserving of a positive adjective with at least four syllables. Maybe five or six, if you can think of one that good."  
  
Jess nodded. "I think we're pretty much in agreement about that fact."  
  
"Pretty much?"  
  
"By pretty much I mean completely," Jess responded. "And from here on out, lets agree not to find insecurities in the technicalities of certain phrases."  
  
"Right," Rory agreed. "Because the point is, a five or six syllable positive adjective, say extraordinary, time was had by all last night."  
  
Jess smiled. "Agreed." He examined her facial expression. "I know you have something else to say, just say it."  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok. Keep in mind though, it was an extraordinary time, ok?" Jess nodded. "All right... although it was extraordinary, and something that I would certainly like to repeat at some point...We should lay some ground rules about such a recurrence." She looked him in the eyes, determined not to let her embarrassment keep her from being direct with him. She'd shared herself with him; she couldn't let something silly like a slightly awkward conversational subject embarrass her in front of him. They were beyond that.  
  
Jess took another bite. "I think you're right," he said. "Ground rules are good."  
  
Rory smiled. "I'm glad you think so." She paused. "I don't think we should make a habit of doing it too often," she said, "For two reasons. Firstly, I'm not on the pill or anything yet, and I would like to be at some point. And secondly, the more we do it, the more obvious it could become... to certain people in particular. Like my mom."  
  
"I definitely support that," Jess said. "I'm not too eager for her to find out. Ever since you told me last night that she was gonna kill me, I kept picturing her coming at me with a huge steak knife. I almost dropped a pile of plates when she walked into the diner this morning."  
  
Rory giggled. "Don't let her know how scared you are of her," she said. "She'll find far too much pleasure in frightening you whenever she gets the chance."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Jess chuckled. "So no sex for a while. I can live with that."  
  
Rory smiled. "Well... it wouldn't be so bad every once in a while. I mean not tonight of course, but... say this Saturday after the Stars Hollow High prom? That might be a preferable night for such an endeavor." She smiled a little.  
  
Jess put his plate down. "Oh man," he said sarcastically with a smile. "It gets me so hot when you use big words to talk about sex like that-"  
  
Rory shoved him playfully. "Shut up, Jess-"  
  
He interrupted her with a kiss, as he so often did, although she never tired of it. There was nothing better than an unexpected kiss. She fell into it almost immediately. Before she knew it, she was nearly horizontal, leaning against the arm of the couch. Jess broke away for a second.  
  
"Is this ok?" he asked. "I won't try anything I promise. I'll be a good boy."  
  
Rory laughed. "Well hey, it's nothing my mom hasn't seen us do before."  
  
Jess chuckled. "I like the way you think," he said, and proceeded to resume the kiss. After a good long while spent kissing, the two decided to watch a movie on the couch. By the time Lorelai got home, the two were leaning on each other, fast asleep. Her initial reaction was to worry, but she soon got over it. Rory had told her months ago that she would tell her before she and Jess did anything, and she believed it. She let them sleep a while, but eventually woke Jess up to let him go home.  
  
"Psssst," she whispered to him, toughind his shoulder lightly. "Hey Jess."  
  
He stirred, opened his eyes, and nearly jumped out of his skin, remarkably not disturbing Rory a bit. "Lorelai! I-we-well there was a movie-"  
  
Lorelai giggled. "Don't worry about it, it's ok. You should probably go home now, though."  
  
"Oh," Jess sighed, relieved. "Yeah." He carefully lay Rory down on the couch, leaving a kiss on her forehead, and headed for the door.  
  
"Oh, and Jess?" Lorelai called as he reached for the doorknob. He turned back.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I just wanted to tell you," she said, "She had a really good time last night. She told me she did, so I guess I just... wanted to thank you for being such a fine upstanding boyfriend or-whatever." She paused. "Basically, just thanks for not letting me down."  
  
He smiled a little. "I try my best," he said. "I'll tell Luke you say hello." And he left. Lorelai sighed. No wonder Rory's so head over heels for the kid, she thought, and headed up to bed.  
A/N: More comes soon, guys. As always, if you read and review, I will forever be grateful to you!!! As a couple of you already know, if you say its ok in your review, I might even email you and let you have a hand in the way the plot turns out!!! Lucky you!!!! lol... ok so next chapter is the Stars Hollow High Prom!!! And maybe some more if I have enough time to write. And I would just like to say that I love you guys who reviewed before so much! You're my favorites!!! Hehehe  
  
~Emaline 


	6. Too Good To Wait For

Part 7  
  
Too Good To Wait For  
I wanted to leave you  
  
Completely pleased  
  
Sleep drifting above you  
  
Sweetly released  
  
I want to see you smiling  
  
Weak in the knees  
  
I want to see you come, come  
  
Completely pleased  
  
I want to give you something  
  
Priceless and free  
  
And free...  
  
I wanted to leave you  
  
Completely pleased  
  
Sleep drifting above you  
  
Sweetly complete at peace  
  
I want to see you hazy  
  
Dazed and confused I  
  
Want to see you come, come  
  
Completely used up  
  
I want to give you something  
  
Forever and true  
  
And true....  
Rory pulled her lips away from Jess', nearly breathless. "Is this Semisonic?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," Jess said. He leaned in for another kiss.  
  
"What's the name of the song?" Rory said before he could reach her lips.  
  
"Completely Pleased," Jess answered, somewhat annoyed. "Is this really necessary?"  
  
"Well I like the song," she said. "That, and I really needed to come up for air."  
  
Jess chuckled a little. "Yeah, I think we could both use a little breather." He sat back in the drivers seat with a sigh.  
  
Rory looked around. "Wow. I always thought it was just an effect in the movies," she said, "But I guess making out really does fog up the car windows, huh?"  
  
Jess nodded. "Yeah," he said, looking at the fog. "And we all know what that means don't we?"  
  
"Actually, we all don't. Explain please?"  
  
He smiled. "More privacy for Dawson and Joey to make out in Dawson's car." He kissed her again, and moved onto her neck, fully respecting her need for air.  
  
"So you fancy yourself a Dawson Leary type?" she asked amused.  
  
"Don't start," he laughed. "We've been down this road before."  
  
"Yes that's right, and we both agreed that Dawson's creek is best left unmentioned between the two of us."  
  
"Believe me, I'm kicking myself as we speak."  
  
Rory leaned back against the car door, letting him leave little kisses all over her neck and shoulders. It had only been 5 days since they'd agreed not to be having sex regularly or too often, and already she'd nearly given in twice. Of course, she hadn't told him. But it was so hard for her, being with him, kissing and touching, and having to put the restrictions back when she already knew what lay beyond their restrictions. Anytime they were alone, even if only for a few moments, they found they could barely keep their hands, or lips, to themselves anymore. They'd even been known to both disappear for a few minutes to goodness knows where in the mornings before school when Rory and Lorelai were supposed to be having breakfast at the diner.  
  
Now it was Friday afternoon. Rory had gotten out of school, and only taken the bus half of the way home. She and Jess had agreed that he'd drive out to a bus stop a couple miles outside Stars Hollow, and they'd go find someplace they could really be alone, without Luke or Lorelai bursting in every 5 minutes, someplace they didn't have to worry about people seeing them. They parked in a woody area, and after only a few minutes of kissing, Rory really had to resist the urge to start undressing him. "Just remember," she told herself. "Tomorrow night. It's just over 24 hours to wait. It's not that difficult."  
  
As Rory's thoughts wandered, Jess noticed her inattentiveness. "Hey," he said. "Things are pretty interesting over here, what's it like where you are?"  
  
Rory giggled. "Sorry. Just spaced out a little. It's nothing."  
  
Jess sat up, knowing fully well that whenever Rory spaced out, it was never "nothing".  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
Rory sighed. "We're waiting until tomorrow night," she said, stubbornly.  
  
"Um... ok?" Jess said, confused.  
  
"It makes me worry when I realize how unable I am to control myself when we're together," she said, staring at the dashboard. "Why do you do that to me? All my life, I'm little miss responsible; you hear the name Rory, you think 'Mind of her own, strong-willed, sensible'. Then suddenly, you show up in town and I'm cutting school to go to New York City, getting in car crashes-"  
  
"That was MY fault," he interjected. "Why are you beating yourself up over this? So you had sex. You enjoyed yourself. Most people do. I hardly think it's fair for you to be upset with yourself for having hormones."  
  
"I'm not upset about the hormones," she said. "I'm upset because I became THAT GIRL."  
  
"What girl?" Jess asked, looking around. "Where?"  
  
Rory sighed. "THAT girl. The one who loses her head over some guy."  
  
"So I'm just 'Some guy'? Gee thanks, love you too, Rory," he said, a little more defensively than he'd meant to.  
  
"Stop," she said. "Now you're just pouting cuz I wanted to stop making out."  
  
Jess sighed, trying to keep his calm. He knew Rory was a little insane... ok maybe more than a little. And he knew that what she needed most in her times of insanity was someone rational to keep her grounded. "I'm not mad because you wanted to stop, I'm confused because you're making a really big deal over something that's totally normal."  
  
"So you don't think this is a big deal?" Rory said, angrily. She knew she was twisting his words, and she knew deep down that she really didn't make any sense... but she could feel herself panicking at the thought of his completely overpowering affect on her. Being defensive was the only tactic she'd learned from her mother... granted, not the most mature role model, but she hadn't really had a choice in the matter.  
  
"Rory, whatever's important to you can be important to me," he said. "But only if you tell me what the hell you're talking about, cuz I'm definitely not following."  
  
"Maybe I wasn't ready for this," she blurted out. The minute the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.  
  
"For what, making out in my car?"  
  
"You know what I mean, Jess," she said. "I mean I know we can't undo what we did, but... maybe we should just..."  
  
"Pretend it never happened?" Jess asked. It scared Rory that he knew exactly what she was thinking. An uncomfortable silence filled the car. Jess leaned back in his seat.  
  
"So you're saying you want to slow things down?" He asked, surprisingly calm. Rory looked over at his face, to make sure she hadn't misread his voice; she hadn't. He wasn't frowning, or glaring, or making any kind of unpleasant face. He just looked... well, normal.  
  
"Well, yeah," she said. "I guess..." Silence again.  
  
"We're still together though, right?" he asked, not looking at her.  
  
"Yeah of course," she answered, completely grateful for his understanding, and at the same time unsure of whether or not he was going to blow up in a rage any minute. Even though it had been months, she still wasn't used to Jess' calm way of dealing with things. Compared to Dean, he seemed practically sedated.  
  
"And we're still going to the prom tomorrow night?"  
  
"We better be, cuz I don't know where else I'd get a chance to wear my dress."  
  
Jess smiled slightly. "Ok." He turned the key in the ignition. "Wanna go to the bookstore?"  
  
Rory could hardly believe how well he was handling it. "You're not mad?"  
  
Jess chuckled a little. "Mad?" he asked. "No. I wouldn't say mad. More like worried."  
  
"Worried?" Rory asked.  
  
"Worried that my girlfriend might be displaying early signs of bipolarity."  
  
He laughed. Rory tried to glare at him, but couldn't keep her smile from showing. "You better find something really good for me at the bookstore to make up for that one," she said as they drove back towards Stars Hollow.  
  
*****************************  
  
Just past 9:30 that evening, Lorelai strolled into the diner. Since there the diner was virtually empty, it didn't seem out of the ordinary for Luke to stare at her as much as he was... and he was very grateful for this. He always liked it when she stopped by after her Friday night dinners with her parents. She was always dressed up, and in desperate need of the one thing only he could give her. Coffee.  
  
She collapsed on a stool by the counter with a groan. "Ugh....."  
  
"That bad huh?" Luke asked.  
  
"Worse," she replied. "Hey you wouldn't happen to have any-"  
  
"Coffee?" Luke finished for her. "Why? It's not like you wouldn't force me to make more if we were out anyway." He poured her a cup. She grabbed it greedily.  
  
"Ahhhh..." she sighed after a long sip. "Who the hell needs therapy when this stuff exists?"  
  
"So what'd Emily and Richard do this time?" Luke asked, refilling the salt and pepper shakers by the counter.  
  
"You mean besides nearly drive me to stick my head in the fireplace?" she asked, before taking another long sip. "Basically it was a long evening full of "how was the prom Rory? What did you do? What did you wear? What did Jess wear? What songs did you dance to? Now try to repeat every word you and he uttered the entire night, and then paint us a mental picture of the entire environment, right down to every last floor tile in the rest rooms."' She sighed. "It was brutal."  
  
"Sounds it," Luke said, pouring her a refill, knowing full well that arguing with her about her caffeine habit was practically suicidal.  
  
"But get this," she said. "After they were fully satisfied with her retelling of her fairy tale evening, there was another 45 minutes of "Jess seems like such a nice boy. How lucky of Rory to find him. By the way, when was the last time you had a date Lorelai? Wait much longer, there won't be many good catches left out there. Are you interested in dating so-and-so from the DAR's son? He's a stock broker AND an excellent Croquet competitor!"  
  
"Well aren't you lucky," Luke teased her.  
  
"The luckiest," Lorelai grunted sarcastically. "So how's your evening been? Must have been better than mine, seeing as how you don't seem to have any self-inflicted wounds or any signs of attempted suicide."  
  
"It wasn't so bad," Luke said. "Taylor hasn't been in once all day."  
  
"Well aren't you just lucky as an Irish man?" Lorelai grinned.  
  
"I'd do a jig, but I'm not in the right shoes," he replied sarcastically.  
  
Lorelai sighed in contemplation. "What if-and please promise you'll put me out of my misery if I start sounding too much like my mother-what if she was right?"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Maybe-just maybe-there really aren't that many good catches out there anymore," Lorelai said. "I mean think about it Luke. How many girlfriends have you had in the past few years?"  
  
"I don't know," he answered gruffly. "I never really took the time to count."  
  
"Not enough I'll bet," she said. "And the same goes for me. The more time goes by, the more I just give up trying. I mean admit it, you could have a dating life that's a hell of a lot more exciting if you just put yourself out there."  
  
He looked at her. "Something tells me that's not the biggest reason."  
  
Lorelai looked up, completely taken aback by his comment. Did he mean what she thought he meant?  
  
Jess came down the stairs, his loud footsteps giving Luke a reason to break their eye contact. Lorelai looked down quickly taking her last few gulps of coffee.  
  
"I'm goin' out Luke," Jess said.  
  
"Hold it," Luke commanded. "You going to meet Rory?"  
  
"No," Jess responded. "Believe it or not, we don't spend every waking hour together."  
  
"No but it's pretty damn close," Lorelai commented, standing up and avoiding Luke's eyes. "I should be getting home. See ya later Luke."  
  
Luke replied, obviously just as uncomfortable as Lorelai was. "Yeah, see ya."  
  
Lorelai hurried out, calling to Jess over her shoulder, "Rory says hey!"  
  
Jess nodded to Lorelai in acknowledgement, before turning to Luke with a smug smile. "So," he asked. "What was that about?"  
  
"What was what about?" Luke said, turning away from him to start drying mugs.  
  
"You and Lorelai," he said. "Did I interrupt something?"  
  
"Nothing but a conversation," Luke answered. "I thought you said you were leaving."  
  
"No worries, I'm out of your hair," Jess said, still smiling. He walked out of the diner, whistling just loud enough for Luke to hear, the melody of "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah."  
  
Luke tried not to blush as he returned to his work.  
****************************  
"I feel so stupid," Rory admitted, closing her eyes to let Lane sweep eye shadow over her eye lids. "I mean, I don't even know why I said it!" she sighed. "I don't want to slow things down."  
  
"Well good," Lane said. "I was starting to worry."  
  
"Don't take this the wrong way, Lane," Rory said, "but what does it matter to you?"  
  
"Hi. I'm Lane Kim, daughter of the Christian health food Nazi, Mrs. Kim. Up till last month, I could count the number of times I've kissed my boyfriend on my right hand. I'm living vicariously through you here, Rory, you can't wimp out on me and lose the steam. Otherwise I'd just have to find a new best friend." Lane put down the eye shadow. "Open."  
  
Rory opened her eyes. "So what am I supposed to do? Just say 'Hey Jess, remember what I said yesterday about slowing things down? That thing I made such a huge deal over? Yeah well I take it back."' She sighed. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I AM bipolar."  
  
"Well why don't you just wait a couple weeks, and then say, 'Hey, I messed up. I was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?' And then give him a really passionate, intense kiss before he has a chance to say no?"  
  
"Because," Rory said, feeling ashamed of herself before she even got the words out. "I don't think I can wait that long."  
  
"Wow," Lane said with a grin. "So Rory Gilmore's got regular teenage hormones. I was beginning to wonder."  
  
Rory sighed. "It's just so weird, Lane! Yesterday, after I said I wanted to slow things down, he was totally cool about it. I'm talking John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever cool. But we got to the bookstore, and we were just talking... I mean it was nice. I like the talking and all, I really do, I just.... Every time I looked at him-"  
  
"You wanted to attack him?" Lane finished her sentence. Rory buried her face in her hands.  
  
"I'm a horrible, horrible person," she groaned.  
  
"I don't really think he'd mind if you took it back, Rory," Lane said. "I mean he's a guy. Generally, they aren't opposed to their girlfriend actually wanting to be physical."  
  
"But I just said it today," Rory said. "He's gonna think I'm crazy."  
  
"Ok, 1) you ARE. And 2) he already knows it." Lane unzipped the bag her dress was hanging in. "It's gonna be fine. Your craziness is part of what makes you special. He might even think it's cute."  
  
"Yeah," Rory said. "Cute in a psychotic, Girl Interrupted kind of a way."  
  
"Perhaps," Lane answered. "But cute is cute." Lane slipped her dress on. It was surprisingly nice for a dress that had been approved by Mama Kim; It was a sleeveless dress, in a medium blue color, with a slightly full skirt. "Zip me up?" she asked. Rory obliged.  
  
"You look really good," Rory said. "Dave's gonna go catatonic."  
  
Lane didn't even bother trying to hide her giddy reaction. "You think so?"  
  
"I KNOW so," Rory said. "Face it Lane. You worked your magic on the boy. He's fallen head over heels. He's probably even written songs about it."  
  
"Ok, now you're just teasing me," Lane said. "But then again, I really don't care."  
  
Lorelai came in through the front door. "Marco!!!!" she called.  
  
"We're in my room, Polo!" Rory answered. Lorelai came in and immediately collapsed on the bed.  
  
"Oh lord help me," she swooned. "They're so much more beautiful than I..." she sat up with a look of defiance in her eyes. "Damn you and your youth! Oh how I envy thou-for thou art- oh I give up, Shakespeare's not my thing." She sighed.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, Joan Rivers," Rory said to Lane with a look of amusement.  
  
"You guys look fantastic," Lorelai said. She handed them the bag from the drug store. "I come bearing last minute purse-fillers. There's two packs of gum, two chapsticks, two packets of fake nails, two boxes of Altoids, should you think gum takes too long to freshen the breath, and of course, two snickers bars."  
  
"Lorelai, you're a Goddess," Lane said, taking out the candy bar and putting it in her purse.  
  
"Thank you, I know," Lorelai said with a smile, walking into the kitchen. "I'm making coffee!" she called as she closed the door.  
  
Lane turned to Rory and tried to keep her voice down. "Are you gonna tell her?"  
  
Rory shook her head quickly. "No! God no. Do you have any idea how disastrous that would be?" She picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair.  
  
"Wow," Lane exclaimed. "I'm impressed. A secret between the Gilmore girls. How are you dealing with that?"  
  
"By talking to you," Rory answered. "I like just having this one thing that's totally mine, anyway. It's nice. It's like I sort of have a life of my own, and I'm not just half of the Lorelai and Rory team." Lane looked confused. Rory sighed. "It's like I'm a guitar player in a band who's finally getting the chance to do some solo work without the rest of the band."  
  
"Oh!" Lane said. "I get it. Good for you."  
  
The doorbell rang.  
  
"They're here," Lane said, excited.  
  
"Looks like it," Rory said, trying to mask her dread of this virtually kiss- free evening with Jess with fake enthusiasm. "Let's go."  
  
When they reached the living room, Dave and Jess were both sitting on opposite ends of the couch, apparently engrossed in a very interesting conversation.  
  
"Static Age," Jess said. "Definitely the best Album."  
  
"No, no, no," Dave argued. "It's gotta be Earth AD."  
  
"Oh come on!" Jess said. "Are you forgetting 'We are 138'? Or 'Hybrid moments'?"  
  
"I have 7 words," Dave said. "Mommy, can I go out and kill tonight?"  
  
"That's 8 words," Lane interjected.  
  
"Oh right," Dave said, then did a double take, suddenly noticing Lane's presence. "Oh, Hey!" he said, standing. "Wow. You look... much better than you usually do when your mother dresses you. I'm impressed."  
  
Lane smiled. "Thanks. But your flattery won't convince me to side with you about this. Jess is right. Static Age was the best Misfits Album."  
  
Jess stood and walked over to Rory. "Hey," he said, seemingly nervous. Cautiously, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Is that all right?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Of course it is. We're not Amish."  
  
Jess laughed. "Good point."  
  
Lorelai came in from the kitchen. "Ok everybody," she said. "I've got a camera, and I sort of know how to use it." She put it to her eye. "Everybody pose, and please, pose does not mean give me the finger."  
  
"Aw well now I've got nothing," Jess joked. Rory laughed a little, but smiled gratefully as he put his arm around her waist. At least he wasn't going to avoid touching her completely, she thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  
  
"Ok," Lorelai said. "1, 2, 3, say cheese!"  
  
No one did. She took the picture anyway.  
  
"All right guys, you better get going. Don't wanna miss anything."  
  
The two couples headed out the door, Rory leaving last. "This ought to be interesting," she muttered to herself as she closed the door.  
A/N: So I know I've been posting short chapters lately.... But it's easier than doing long chapters and posting once a month. I'm on a serious roll here-a chapter a day every day for like 4 days. So forgive me if there are slight mistakes. I'm exhausted. Anyway, I'm loving your reviews, guys, you're what drives me to do this as much as I do. I promise the next chapter will have some Rory and Jess action, and then the one after that.... Well that one's gonna be really juicy... hehehe so keep reading! It's gonna get good soon!  
  
~Emaline  
  
oh and in case you're reading the reviews of other people, this is in response to a certain review which said that "Will you still love me tomorrow" was actually done originally by Carole King. Um... it wasn't. It was done by the Shirelle's. sorry, I mean whoever said that, I'm sure it was an honest mistake, and I don't mind. But trust me, guys. I'm a class A audiophile. I know my music. It's all accurate. Wow that made me sound bitchy. It wasn't meant to be. Ok I'm gonna shut up now. 


	7. Famous Last Words

Part 8  
  
Famous Last Words  
********************************  
Oh My God, Rory thought to herself. This is unbearable. I officially hate myself.  
  
I could have just told him "No. That's not what I meant. I don't want to slow things down." I mean, I was thinking those words, but that's probably because I watched a stupid teen movie the night before, and since some girl in the movie told her boyfriend that, the words were in my head. It's like it's been burned into my mind. Things get intense, slow them down. But that just goes to show you how much the media can affect your mind. It made me think I wanted to say that. But I didn't. Maybe I like things fast... like- cars and-and rockets and such. I don't like slow things. I was with Dean for two years. Talk about slow. It was like a sloth.... The point is, I left him for Jess, because I got tired of the sloth. And now, here Jess is, thinking that I want him to be a sloth.  
  
"I hate sloths," she muttered under her breath aloud.  
  
"What?" Jess asked. They'd been sitting at a table together, watching as Lane and Dave slow danced. Jess hadn't asked her to dance, and Rory's initial desire had been to drag him into the hallway and do just what Lane suggested; tell him it had all been a mistake and kiss him before he had a chance to remember all the hoops she'd made him jump through for no reason. But she repressed it. She couldn't come up with a legitimate reason why she didn't, other than the fact that she just couldn't make herself. She told her feet to move-they wouldn't. She felt the same way she had all those months when she knew how she felt about him, but just couldn't bring herself to end things with Dean and fess up. She now remembered why she'd been so miserable during that period of time.  
  
"I didn't say anything," Rory lied through her teeth.  
  
Jess chuckled. "Yeah sure. Whatever you say."  
  
The prom had just started. Most people got there fashionably late, and the fashionable time to arrive was about 15 minutes away. Lane and Dave were having the time of their lives-probably because there was nobody at the dance that they had to hide their relationship from. But Rory was miserable because Jess was treating her like a friend, and not a girlfriend. She knew it wasn't his fault-it was hers. And this caused the most extreme self- hatred she'd ever known.  
  
"So..." Jess awkwardly attempted to start conversation. "Your dress is..." he trailed off.  
  
"Trouble finding the right adjective?" Rory asked.  
  
"I used both 'Nice' and 'Wow' last time, so I'm pretty much drawing a blank."  
  
Rory smiled. "As long as 'Ugly' and 'Unflattering' don't come to mind, I'm satisfied."  
  
Jess chuckled. "Oh, hey. I know. Pretty. That's a good one, right?"  
  
"Very good," Rory giggled. "Hey, have I ever mentioned how good you are at awkward nervous conversation?"  
  
"It's my staple," he said. He examined her face, as though looking for something.  
  
"Why are you looking at me like that? Cuz I gotta tell ya it's a little creepy."  
  
Jess smiled. "You want to dance don't you?"  
  
'Yes!!!' Rory wanted to scream. "No!" was the defensive answer that came flying out of her mouth for God knows what reason. 'You are an idiot,' she thought to herself.  
  
"You don't?" he asked, skeptically. "Cuz the way you've been looking at Dave and Lane all night-you know, that scowl thing where your eyes get all squinted and you do that pouting thing with your lips-it kinda suggested that you might be wishing you were up there dancing instead of over here, scowling and not talking to me." Rory avoided his gaze. "But I could always be wrong," he added.  
  
Rory forced a laugh. "Yeah right. Dancing? Dancing is not my thing, and conveniently it doesn't seem to be yours either... unless you're leading a secret life as a night club break dancer, in which case we'd really need to have a serious discussion."  
  
Jess chuckled. "So you really don't want to dance?"  
  
"No."  
  
"No?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Not even just a little?"  
  
"Well... maybe a LITTLE. But not enough for me to actually get up and dance, no."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"100 percent sure?"  
  
".... Well.... I'd say 97 percent sure. But that's still pretty much sure."  
  
Jess sighed, trying to remain patient. "Rory, do you want to dance?"  
  
"No," she said. ".....ok yes."  
  
Jess smirked. "I knew it."  
  
"You did not."  
  
"It's written all over your face." He stood and offered his hand. "Come on, let's do this before too many people come and see me."  
  
Rory smiled and walked with him to the dance floor, shooting a smile to Lane before wrapping her arms around Jess' neck.  
  
She liked the silence for a while. But as time went on, it just became a reminder of the awkwardness of the situation. Thankfully, just as she thought she could bear the silence no longer, the song that had been playing came to an end. Jess, sensing how uncomfortable Rory was, offered an escape.  
  
"Want food?"  
  
"Don't you know me at all?" she joked.  
  
"I'll get a couple plates. You can sit. I'll be back." He turned to go, but Rory spontaneously pulled him back for a quick kiss.  
  
"Well," he said, "Guess that erases any doubt of your willingness to do anything for a good plate of food." He smiled smugly. "Be back soon."  
  
Rory sat alone, but she wasn't alone for long.  
  
"Hey."  
  
She turned to see Dean standing by her table.  
  
"Dean!" she said surprised. "Hey! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well mostly I'm here because this is my school," he said, chuckling. "Care to explain your presence?"  
  
"Oh, right," she said, "I forgot for a minute that this isn't my school. I'm just here with-"  
  
"Jess," he said, looking at the ground. "Right. I knew that. That was a stupid question."  
  
"Not any more stupid than my asking what you were doing here," Rory tried to ease his embarrassment. "So," she tried to change the subject. "You having fun?"  
  
"Well so far all I've done is hang up my coat and talk to you. So I guess it's not bad so far. It's got potential."  
  
"Always optimistic," Rory said with a smile.  
  
"So," he said, "Not that I'm anxious to see him, but where exactly is Jess?"  
  
"Oh, he's getting food." Rory pointed him out by the refreshment table, trying to contain her laughter as she saw him trying to discreetly place 5 lemon squares on one of the plates he was holding without the chaperone that manned the table noticing it.  
  
"So Jess has a thing for Lemon squares," Dean observed. "There's something that I'd never have guessed."  
  
"No, actually, he kind of hates all things lemon," Rory corrected him, glad that she and Dean could both see the humor in the situation. "I'm the lemon square fan. He's just getting them cuz he knows how much I like them. That, or he's trying to fatten me up."  
  
"So he can lure you back to his gingerbread house and cook you for dinner?" Dean asked.  
  
"I would imagine so, yes," Rory responded. Dean laughed.  
  
"I just came over here to tell you how great you look," He said. "And I hope that's not totally inappropriate for me to say, as the ex boyfriend."  
  
"Oh no," Rory said, "Not at all. And uh-thank you. You look good, too. The tux-it works for you."  
  
"Yeah right," Dean played it off.  
  
"Well well well," Rory heard Jess' voice behind her. "If it isn't Bag boy."  
  
Dean tried his hardest not to retaliate with an even better insult. He knew this was probably hard on Rory, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he was hoping that if he could always remain the perfect guy in comparison to Jess... well maybe someday she'd wake up and realize it... and want him back.  
  
"And there's the old nickname," he said sarcastically to Jess. "I was beginning to miss it."  
  
"I sensed that," Jess said. He handed Rory her plate. "2 pigs in blankets, a clementine, which considering your intolerance for anything healthy, you probably won't want, and of course five lemon squares."  
  
Rory took the plate thankfully. "Five? Wow, I'm so spoiled. And incredibly grateful."  
  
"Good thing. I had to kill a man for them."  
  
"Twice as grateful." Rory turned her attention abruptly to Dean. She suddenly became aware of how awkward it must be for him to see them interacting the way they normally did.  
  
"So, uh... are you here with Lindsey?" She asked Dean, hoping to God he wasn't there stag. If things hadn't worked out between him and Lindsey since the last time they talked about it, they'd be right back where they were after the breakup-Dean alone and sad, and Rory with Jess, unable to feel anything but guilt around him. And wouldn't that be joyful.  
  
"Yeah, she's just in the bathroom," Dean replied. "You know, doing... girly stuff. Powdering noses and-stuff."  
  
"Powdering noses?" Rory asked amused. Dean smiled, realizing what he'd said.  
  
"I know I know, stupid."  
  
"No, not stupid," Rory said. "It's just I didn't realize it was 1889, that's all."  
  
Dean smiled, but his eyes darted away. "There she is." Rory looked behind her and spotted Lindsey walking over toward them. The look on her face showed rather obviously how strange she thought it was that Rory and Dean still talked.  
  
"I should go," Dean said. "Have a good time."  
  
"Oh but how could we not?" Jess said.  
  
"See ya, Dean!" Rory added.  
  
"So," Jess began, rather awkwardly. "Did you and Dean have a nice conversation?" he asked in an overly sweet voice.  
  
"Yes," Rory retorted, "And I must say, that was an excellent impersonation of my kindergarten teacher."  
  
Jess sighed. "You know he's just with that Lindsey girl cuz he wants to make you jealous, right?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Jess, he does not want to make me jealous."  
  
"Oh please," Jess laughed. "It's beyond obvious. I mean think about it Rory. What guy gets to his senior prom and thinks as soon as he gets through the door, 'Oh, my date's in the bathroom, I think I'll head right over to that table and see how my estranged ex is doing'?"  
  
"Jess, we're hardly estranged. We talk all the time; Dean and I are friends."  
  
"He's trying to make you jealous," Jess insisted.  
  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think YOU were jealous," Rory teased slightly.  
  
"Oh please," Jess laughed. "I'm jealous of bag boy. THAT'S likely."  
  
"So what, you just hate Dean? It has nothing to do with the fact that he was the one thing standing in the way of us getting together most of last year and the year before?" Rory asked skeptically.  
  
"No, that was YOU, remember?" he said, no longer joking around. "Dean was just the guy who was along for the ride." He paused. "I don't hate Dean," Jess insisted, suddenly seeming irritated. "And I am NOT jealous. But don't expect me to just sit back and cool my heels with all the stuff that's going on-"  
  
"Whoa whoa," Rory said, suddenly sensing the anger in his voice. "What's going on? Ten seconds ago you were sarcastic witty Jess, and in the positive sense, and suddenly now you're all angry; what happened?"  
  
"I don't know," Jess retorted. "I guess I'm just spending a little too much time with my bipolar girlfriend and she's rubbing off on me." He looked at the floor. Rory sighed. She knew this night was a potential disaster, and it was certainly living up to its potential.  
  
"Look," she offered quietly, "I'm sensing an oncoming argument, and considering how bad our arguments have been in the past, could we please just have this one someplace that's not so public? And not so much in the middle of the prom?"  
  
Jess sighed. "Yeah. Sure. You lead the way."  
  
Rory turned and headed to the door that led to the hallway. People didn't usually hang out there; there were just lockers. Not very romantic. People usually left the gym and went to the bleachers when they wanted privacy, so she knew they'd really be alone in the hall.  
  
They didn't wait to find a spot to argue. As soon as they were through the door, Jess took the lead, walking so quickly Rory had to speed walk to keep up with him.  
  
"What is the deal? Why are you upset all of a sudden?" Rory asked, following him closely.  
  
"I'm not upset, I'm confused," Jess replied.  
  
"Confused about what?"  
  
"Right now? I'm confused about this."  
  
"This? What's THIS? Could you be a little more vague please?"  
  
"You and me," Jess answered, annoyed. "Something's up, Rory, don't lie to me."  
  
"How could I be lying to you about our relationship? I haven't even SAID anything about our relationship!" she sighed. "Great so now we're both confused."  
  
"If you're gonna break up with me, why don't you just get it over with so we can both move on?"  
  
The words hit her like a ton of bricks. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked, not even sure she'd heard him right.  
  
"There's no reason to drag it out like this," Jess said. "I'm not about to be another version of Dean. He may not have minded sitting around and pretending like your relationship wasn't on it's way out, but I do. So just get it over with, why don't you?"  
  
"Jess, what are you talking about?" Rory asked. "What the hell made you think I was gonna break up with you?"  
  
"Oh come on," Jess said. "Don't play stupid, Rory, it's not exactly your strong point."  
  
"Seriously," Rory said. "I don't understand."  
  
"First, you take me to the prom with you last week, and you seem totally sure about this whole thing. We had the 'I love you' thing down, we slept together, everything was ok. And then suddenly, you flip out on me and you wanna slow things down, and now you and Dean?" he sighed. "I may not have a Chilton education like you, but I can put two and two together."  
  
Rory shook her head, completely stunned. "I don't even know what to say. But I guess I'll start with the fact that you're completely wrong."  
  
"Yeah sure," Jess said skeptically.  
  
"The Dean thing was nothing. He just came over and we started talking. No big deal." She sighed. "And as for the other thing..." she looked up at his face, trying to find a way to say this. But seeing his somewhat relieved expression over his hurt ego, she just didn't want to say anything. Spontaneously, she grabbed his face and kissed him passionately, feeling like it had been ages since she'd felt his lips on hers, even though it had only been a day.  
  
After a few moments, he pulled away. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of slowing things down?"  
  
Rory laughed at herself. "Well... I don't want to slow things down," she explained. "So I guess that proves your theory huh? Bipolar Rory. It can be my new nick name."  
  
Jess laughed and kissed her. "I like it. Bilpolar Rory and Silly Pony. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"  
  
Rory chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I feel like such an idiot. I never wanted this. I never wanted to slow things down. I mean, I was looking forward to this night all week, and just leave it to me to somehow manage to screw it up completely."  
  
"Hey, the night it young," Jess said. "It's not ruined, we've still got time to do..." he tried to suppress his smirk. "... stuff..."  
  
Rory giggled. "Maybe later. I've got a plate full of lemon squares out there waiting-" she started walking away, a mischievous smile playing her lips, but Jess pulled her back gently for another kiss.  
  
"You're mocking me," he muttered.  
  
"Maybe," Rory answered. She sighed. "Where are we gonna go?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know," he answered. "Hey, Luke's not home tonight. We could always go back to the apartment?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Why isn't Luke home?" Rory asked confused. "He never goes anywhere unless he has a girlfriend, and he hasn't since Nicole. Has he?"  
  
"I don't know," Jess answered. "Some family thing. He's with my mom in New York; he had to see her about something, I don't know..." he trailed off. "The point is, since Luke's in New York, he's not HERE, which means the apartment is empty. Completely empty." He kissed her again. She smiled.  
  
"Ok," she agreed. "It's a 2 minute walk from here. Why not?"  
  
Jess smiled. "Come on, we'll bring the lemon squares with us." His hand on her back, they headed back to the gym.  
  
"So if Luke's there..." she began.  
  
"He's not gonna be there," Jess said.  
  
"But just say he is," Rory said. "What then?"  
  
"Why would he be there? He left this afternoon. I actually saw him get on the bus."  
  
"But let's just say," Rory continued, "that by some strange force of nature, he ended up back in the apartment when we got there? He could have come home early, or maybe just turned back halfway there to get a second baseball cap in case his usual one gets dirty or whatever-"  
  
"He's not gonna be there," Jess repeated.  
  
"And if he is?" Rory echoed.  
  
"Then we say we came back to get a book."  
  
Rory laughed. "In the middle of the prom?" She smiled at Jess. "Ok this brings this whole book worm thing between you and I to a completely obsessive compulsive kind of level."  
  
"Luke's a pretty vulnerable guy. He'd believe it."  
  
"Haven't we kind of worn out the book excuse already?" Rory asked.  
  
"Hey, why not just once more for old time's sake?"  
  
Rory snickered. "You're crippling your creative energy."  
  
"So we'll get it a cane." He picked up her plate of lemon squares. "Here you go."  
  
"Thank you," she said. "Hold on, let me just go tell Lane where we're going."  
  
"Why so she can come by later and hang out with us?" Jess asked sarcastically.  
  
"I'll be right back," Rory ignored his comment.  
*********************************************  
Rory approached Lane and Dave, talking in the corner.  
  
"Hey, sorry to interrupt," she said to Dave.  
  
"Hey," Lane said, as if suddenly remembering that there were other people there besides Dave. "How are things going?"  
  
Rory grinned. "Things are great," she said, and Lane nodded, understanding that Rory meant that things with Jess were fixed.  
  
"I'm glad," she said. "So what's up?"  
  
"Oh not much, we're just gonna go back to the apartment for a while," Rory tried to say casually, but it was completely obvious what she meant.  
  
"Ahhh," Lane said nodding. "Gonna check out a book, huh?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I told him that excuse was overdone."  
  
"Well it's a tradition now," Lane offered. "It would be a shame to stop using it."  
  
"Right," Rory laughed. "Well, we might be back later, we might not... depends."  
  
"Have fun," Lane called as Rory headed toward the door.  
***********************************  
"After you," Jess said, opening the door to the upstairs apartment. Luckily, Luke was still gone, as expected, although Rory had thoroughly searched the entire front floor of the diner to make absolutely sure.  
  
She was inexplicably nervous again... but in a good way. She knew what to expect mostly. But she knew this time that they would both be less worried about it, and they could just relax.  
  
She walked through the door and Jess followed, closing the door behind him. He reached for the light switch but before he could she told him not to turn them on; people on the street could see into the apartment when the lights were on. Somewhat taken aback by her behavior, Jess did as he was told, and watched as she closed all the shades in the room.  
  
"Rory, are you really that paranoid that somebody's gonna-" she broke his sentence off with a long kiss.  
  
"Wow," he said with a slight smile. His arms still around her waist, they stumbled into his room and closed the door behind them. "From what I can see so far, prom nights are the BEST."  
  
She giggled slightly, but was way to preoccupied with one thought; kissing him. She did so softly, moving on eventually to his cheek and his neck as he often did with her. She didn't usually do things like that, but she just didn't care at that time if she was being too aggressive or anything. She just liked having him near her; hearing his heavy breaths, feeling his arms pulling him as close to her as they possibly could. When they were together like that, kissing, it was the time when he seemed the strongest and the most vulnerable at the same time... and she loved that.  
  
She pushed his jacket back off of his shoulders and started unbuttoning his shirt, never breaking the kiss. The kisses deepened as his shirt fell to the floor; the feeling of his bear, warm skin was completely intoxicating. His hands fumbled, trying to unzip the back of her dress, and he reluctantly pulled his lips from hers.  
  
"Ok," he said. "This is just too difficult to do while kissing."  
  
"Yeah you're right," Rory agreed, still out of breath. She turned around and he pulled the zipper down, although she didn't let the dress fall from her body immediately. She turned back to him and fell back into the kiss, only to be once more interrupted by the phone ringing in the corner. Jess pulled away slightly.  
  
"Just ignore it, the machine will get it," he said as he kissed her neck.  
  
"Luke?" said an annoyingly familiar voice over the machine. "This is about the soda shoppe."  
  
Rory and Jess stopped short.  
  
"Oh God," Jess said.  
  
"Taylor," Rory named the phantom speaker. She sighed, suddenly remembering how Taylor had a tendency to leave 6 or 7 minute long messages on machines; if the machine cut him off, he would just call again and pick up right where he'd left off.  
  
"Call me crazy," Jess said, "But I don't wanna do this with Taylor's voice in the background."  
  
"Thank god you don't," Rory sighed, relieved. "Otherwise, I'd be a little freaked out right now."  
  
"Hold on," he said, reluctantly pulling himself away from her. He ran to the phone, picked up the receiver, and slammed it right back down. "Maybe now he'll get the point that we don't wanna hear it," he said, walking back across the room and resuming the kiss. But moments later the phone rang again.  
  
"Damn it!" Jess yelled. He walked over to the phone just as Taylor began his second message, and pulled the wire angrily from the wall, before opening his bedroom door and violently throwing the phone into the next room. He walked back to Rory and pulled one of the straps off her shoulder, kissing her collarbone.  
  
"We should remember to clean that up before we leave," Rory said.  
  
Jess snickered. "Neat freak," he mumbled between kisses, trying to pull his belt off. Rory laughed.  
  
"Why did you wear a belt?" she asked amused.  
  
"I was playing hard to get," he retorted, leading her gently to the bed. They fell rather ungracefully upon it, nearly rolling off the side. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Rory pulled away with a sigh.  
  
"Ok. Firstly? There is no way my dress will come off while I'm horizontal like this. Secondly, we both still have shoes on. And lastly, there's some weird whirring noise in the background and it's really distracting." She sat up. Jess stood and pulled his shoes off.  
  
"It's next door at Taylor's shop," he said. "Some weird machine, on all hours of the night. Want music to cover it up?"  
  
"Definitely," Rory said, moving aside the covers so she could jump under them as quickly as possible after slipping off her dress.  
  
Jess fingered through his CDs, naming them under his breath as he went. "Tool, Garbage, Disturbed, the Clash, the Kidney thieves-what the hell!?" he kicked the wall, totally frustrated. "Why don't I have any normal, not angry, non-violent music?"  
  
Rory giggled. "Um, because you're YOU," she answered, standing up. "Here." She leafed quickly through the music and, in moments, found a Jesus and Mary Chain CD, which she handed to Jess. He nodded.  
  
"Impressive," he said. He put it in the cd player, and Sometimes Always began. After a few moments, he became aware of her near nudity, and tried his hardest not to make her uncomfortable. Within moments, Rory quickly got back under the covers. Jess sat on the bed next to her with a sigh.  
  
"So here we are," he said.  
  
"On the bed," Rory completed the thought. He nodded. "Now what?" she asked.  
  
He smiled. "I have a few ideas." Slowly, he leaned over Rory and kissed her softly. She gave in completely. The music, the darkness, the entire setting was perfect; and so she was finally able to just let herself relax and stop worrying about the consequences. Everything was going to be ok; how could it not be?  
***************************************  
"But what did he mean?" Lorelai whined to Sookie, who was in the process of making a stew.  
  
Sookie chuckled. "Lorelai, isn't it obvious by now?"  
  
"Isn't what obvious?" she asked frustrated, "the fact that he blames me for the failure of all his past relationships?"  
  
Sookie laughed. "Lorelai, honey, I know you're brilliant, but when it comes to Luke, you are so completely clueless that sometimes I just don't know what to do with you."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Well spell it out for me, Sook, because I obviously am not getting it."  
  
Sookie smiled. "Lorelai, think for a second. Think about Luke."  
  
"Sookie, we're talking about Luke. I'm already thinking about Luke. Let's move forward!"  
  
"Close your eyes," Sookie said, adding some more spices to the pot.  
  
"What? Why do I have to close my eyes?"  
  
"Because," Sookie said, "I want you to be picturing him in your mind."  
  
"Sookie-!"  
  
"Just do it!"  
  
Lorelai sighed and reluctantly closed her eyes. "Ok, I'm picturing Oscar the Grouch himself. Now what?"  
  
"Ok," Sookie said. "Think hard. How long since the last time he did you a completely unnecessary, incredibly nice favor for you?"  
  
"I don't know. A couple weeks maybe. Why?"  
  
"A couple weeks? Try a couple days," Sookie said. "I mean, he didn't have to fix the porch railing for you last week, but he did anyway."  
  
"Are you getting at something, Sookie?" Lorelai asked, "Cuz I'd really like to open my eyes sometime soon."  
  
"Come on Lorelai. Work with me. Luke is nicer to you than anybody in Stars Hollow-"  
  
"Not true, he's nicer to Rory than he is to me."  
  
"That's because Rory is YOUR daughter," Sookie said. "You guys get really good service at the diner. I mean when was the last time you paid for anything there?"  
  
"Sookie just tell me, please?"  
  
Sookie pulled the ladle out of the pot and held it up threateningly. "Lorelai, don't make me hit you with the ladle!"  
  
Lorelai opened her eyes. "Ok, this is ridiculous, Sookie," she said. "You're trying to get me to believe that Luke has feelings for me. Like romantic feelings."  
  
Sookie sighed, relieved. "Thank god you're not as clueless as you were pretending to be."  
  
Lorelai shook her head. "He does not, Sookie. Luke does not have romantic feelings for me, ok? Cuz that would just be way too weird. Disturbing almost. I mean, we've known him forever, he's like a father to Rory almost- "  
  
"Which would make him like a husband to you," Sookie said. "Deal with it Lorelai. Luke likes you."  
  
"No he doesn't."  
  
"Yes he does."  
  
"Does not."  
  
"Does too."  
  
"Does not."  
  
"Does too-oh my god, this is ridiculous, JACKSON!!!!!!"  
  
Jackson came into the kitchen. "Mmmm, something smells amazing," he said, kissing Sookie's cheek.  
  
"Jackson," Sookie said. "Tell Lorelai that Luke is head over heels for her."  
  
"Don't do it Jackson!" Lorelai pleaded.  
  
"Lorelai," Jackson said, "Luke is head over heels for you."  
  
"Traitor," Lorelai muttered.  
  
Jackson turned back to Sookie. "Anything else, honey?"  
  
"Nope, that's all sweetie. Dinner'll be ready in 20 minutes."  
  
"Ok," Jackson said. He kissed Sookie, and promptly left the kitchen.  
  
"Not fair," Lorelai protested. "He had to agree with you, he's your husband. You guys ganged up on me."  
  
"Lorelai!" Sookie laughed. "Wake up, honey! Luke has had a thing for you since... well, I don't know when it all started, but it's been years that this has been going on. Now I know that on some level, you know he does. I know you don't wanna admit it to yourself, but come on Lorelai. Time to come back to reality. Cuz he's not gonna wait around for you forever. Someday he's gonna get tired of hearing you complain about your current boyfriends while he serves you coffee." Sookie sighed. She examined Lorelai's face before asking, "What are you thinking?"  
  
Lorelai sighed, completely unable to form any kind of coherent thought. "I don't know, Sook," she said. "I just-I don't know, I guess I just have to think a while." She stood. "I'm gonna go."  
  
Sookie sighed. "Lorelai, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. You can stay for dinner if you want to."  
  
Lorelai shook her head with a slight smile. "It's all right. I'm just gonna head home and have some leftover Chinese food before it goes bad." She headed toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sookie."  
********************************************  
"You want whipped cream or chocolate syrup?" Jess called, peering inside the refrigerator.  
  
"Both!" Rory called back from the bed, her eyes never leaving the opened copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil on her lap.  
  
Jess chuckled to himself. He still couldn't understand how she and her mother managed to eat so much and not look like Sumo Wrestlers. He carried the pint of chocolate ice cream, the whipped cream bottle and the Hershey's chocolate syrup back to his bed. Without even looking up, Rory said, "You forgot spoons."  
  
He sighed. "Be right back," he said, walking back to the kitchen. Rory closed her book, wrapped her sheet closer to herself and wandered to his closet. She slipped on a baggy Sex Pistols Tee shirt and sat back on the bed as Jess returned with spoons. He handed her one with a smirk.  
  
"Sharing clothes now, are we?"  
  
She smiled sheepishly. "I was cold."  
  
He sat beside her and opened the pint of ice cream. "It's fine by me," he said. "Besides, it looks better on you than it does on me."  
  
She slipped her legs under the covers. "You're just saying that cuz I'm your girlfriend and you have to say things like that to me."  
  
Jess put some whipped cream on the ice cream. "Oh come on. Does this face look like one that would lie to you?"  
  
"That all depends," Rory answered. "If I say yes, will you still give me the ice cream?"  
  
"Probably not."  
  
"Then my answer is no," Rory said with a smile. "Ice cream please?"  
  
He handed her the carton reluctantly. "You wanna borrow Midnight in the garden of good and evil?"  
  
"Of course," Rory said through a mouthful of whipped cream. "They made an awful movie out of it, so it MUST have been a really good book."  
  
"You can take it with you when we leave," he said. He paused, examining the book cover, trying to figure out how to ask the question that was on his mind.  
  
"So you're really not telling Lorelai about it?" he blurted out.  
  
"About what?" Rory pretended not to know what he meant.  
  
"About all this," he said gesturing to the messy bed vaguely. "The events of the past 40 minutes. Do you need me to be more obvious?"  
  
Rory sighed. "No," she said. "I'm really not telling my mom about all this."  
  
"And that's not weird for you or anything?" he asked. "I mean, I've never really been able to understand this bizarre mother-daughter, best friends, talk about everything deal, but... it doesn't take an idiot to see that you guys enjoy telling each other absolutely everything that ever happens in your lives."  
  
"I know," Rory said. "But I just... I REALLY don't want to tell her about this. I've tried to keep secrets from her before, and it never worked but... all those times, I didn't keep secrets because I wanted to, I kept secrets because I thought I had to. So now, I guess... I just don't mind. It's not that hard."  
  
Jess nodded. "Well, that's... good." He paused. "Just-I mean, if you ever do feel the oncoming urge to fess up to Lorelai, could you just... you know, give me a couple days warning? So I can safely and discreetly skip town before she comes after me with a gun?"  
  
Rory chuckled a little. "Of course. I mean it's only fair to give you a couple days' head start."  
  
Jess smiled. "If you still wanna make it back to the prom before it's over, we should go soon."  
  
Rory nodded. "Fine. But can I borrow your sex pistols tee shirt next time I come over here?"  
  
Jess rolled his eyes, putting his shirt back on. "Yeah. Whatever. Just don't shrink it in the dryer or anything."  
  
"I promise," she answered, standing up and slipping back into her dress. "Zip me up?" she asked him. He did; of course, he used his close proximity to her neck as an opportunity to kiss it, but she stopped him reluctantly.  
  
"Don't start," she commanded with a smile, facing him. "You know I have no will power against you when you do that, and we don't have time. We should have been back 15 minutes ago. We're going to start looking suspicious."  
  
Jess put his jacket on. "How scandalous! The town's favorite teenage girl running around with the local troublemaker. Maybe they'll discuss it at the next town meeting."  
  
"Stop mocking me," Rory said. "Now be honest; do I have really bad bed hair?"  
  
Jess sighed. "It looks perfectly normal." He opened the door to let her go first down the stairs, and then followed her. "Stop worrying, nobody's gonna know."  
  
"Yeah sure," Rory said. "Famous last words."  
A/N: Ugh school weeks are the worst. I'm sorry it's been taking so long for me to update lately. I've been super busy. I'm trying my hardest for the quality not to go down just because I've been busy, but if it has, please feel free to say so. Sorry there were no lyrics in this chapter; I couldn't find any that worked right. As always, if you read and review, you are my God!!!! I love you guys, more comes soon.  
  
~Emaline 


	8. Time to Start Panicking

Part 9  
  
Time to Start Panicking  
  
******************************  
  
Why do you keep secrets?  
  
Why can't you say what's true?  
  
You know I could handle it  
  
I'd never turn on you  
  
Why don't you just come clean?  
********************************  
"Oh my God, Mom, what are you doing?"  
  
It was Monday morning, at 6 AM, and Rory had awoken to the smell of... well, something burning.  
  
"I'm making pancakes!" Lorelai said to her daughter with an overly optimistic smile. She turned back to the pan. "Well, TRYING to make pancakes."  
  
"You do realize you're supposed to flip them BEFORE you sense that odor that reminds you of a bonfire, right?"  
  
"Funny, funny girl!" Lorelai said. "I'm perfectly capable of making a good, not burnt pancake. I just... keep getting distracted."  
  
Rory sat at the kitchen table and rubbed her eyes. "Did you have another weird dream?"  
  
Lorelai contemplated for a second. "Yeah, actually. I did."  
  
"If I analyze it for you, can we go to Luke's?"  
  
"No."  
  
Rory sighed. "Why are you and Luke avoiding each other?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "We are not avoiding each other, Rory. I just... decided I don't-like good food anymore..."  
  
"Now I know where I get my inability to lie from," Rory said. "Mom, I'm not going to eat those burnt pancakes unless you tell me what's going on between you and Luke."  
  
"Nothing is going on!" Lorelai insisted. "Really, it's nothing."  
  
Rory watched her mother for a moment. "He told he likes you, didn't he?"  
  
"No!" Lorelai answered a little too quickly and defensively.  
  
"Of course he didn't," Rory said. "Luke would never admit that. It's not his style. If it were, you would have known a LONG time ago. So who told you for him?"  
  
"Nobody," Lorelai said. Rory stared her down. "Ok," she said unwillingly. "It was Sookie."  
  
Rory nodded. "It's about time."  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Why am I the last person to know about all of this?" She asked, confused.  
  
"Because you chose to remain completely clueless, even though it's totally obvious," Rory replied.  
  
"I am not clueless," Lorelai said defensively.  
  
"You're Cher Horrowitz, Mom," Rory said. "Only less blond." She paused and inhaled. "Mom I can smell it burning, flip the pancake before it catches fire."  
  
Lorelai did so quickly, and sat across the table from Rory, obviously confused. "So you really think he likes me?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yes, mom, I really think Luke likes you."  
  
"You mean he LIKES me? Or he LIKE likes me?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Dear God, I hoped that I'd never have to hear that question again after the 6th grade." She stood and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Yes, I think Luke LIKE likes you."  
  
Lorelai sighed, soaking in this piece of information. "Wow. That's pretty intense."  
  
Rory sipped her coffee. "Yes it is." She paused. "So what are you gonna do about it?"  
  
Lorelai shook her head. "I just-I don't know. I mean this is LUKE we're talking about here. The diner guy. My friend. That's a pretty big transition, going from the scruffy guy who provides us both with food to being... my gentleman caller."  
  
Rory snickered. "I'm sorry, gentleman caller?"  
  
"Hey it's not my fault," Lorelai protested. "I'm all freaked out, it's affecting my rhetoric."  
  
"Wow, mom, nice big word."  
  
Lorelai grinned. "Thanks. I got it from my word-a-day calender." Lorelai stood. "Ok, sit Rory. I'm gonna serve you some pancakes."  
  
"Oh Goody," Rory exclaimed sarcastically, sitting at the table again. Lorelai placed a plate in front of her. Rory tried not to wrinkle her nose in disgust at the completely black, burnt pancakes.  
  
"They look great don't they?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"Mom please don't make me eat these," Rory begged. Lorelai rolled her eyes and poured some maple syrup on the stack.  
  
"Stop being so picky. World champion eaters like us can't be picky! Now suck it up and eat the pancakes!"  
  
Reluctantly, Rory took a bite and swallowed.  
  
"Well?" Lorelai asked hopefully.  
  
"Please mom, can I just have a pop tart?"  
  
Lorelai sighed and took the plate back to the sink. "Ok. You win. They taste like crap." She put the syrup away. "I had some earlier. They were even worse."  
  
Rory's mouth dropped. "I don't believe you! You knew how bad they were and you still made me try some?" She crossed her arms. "Mean."  
  
"Hey I had a legitimate reason," Lorelai said.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Rory asked skeptically. "Why?"  
  
"Revenge for labor pains." Lorelai poured herself a second cup of coffee. "So let's just say we're even."  
  
Rory contemplated for a moment. "No deal," she said.  
  
"What?" Lorelai cried, offended. "What do you mean? We are totally even."  
  
"No deal," Rory repeated. "I won't say we're even unless you agree to come to Luke's with me this morning. I think you need to talk to him so you don't get used to avoiding him. Plus, I really want a donut."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Fine. We'll go. Go get dressed."  
  
Rory stood with a smile. "You won't regret it mom, I promise."  
  
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Honey," Lorelai called as Rory went back into her room to get dressed.  
**********************************************  
"Well if it isn't sleeping beauty," Miss Patty remarked as Jess walked into the diner from the apartment, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Someday I'm not gonna take this abuse anymore," Jess said, grabbing the coffee pot and beginning to refill people's mugs. Luke glanced up from the register at Jess. He'd been acting way too happy lately. Not like sunshine and roses happy or anything. But just... not upset, which was pretty good for him. Kind of disturbing and unnatural, but still good.  
  
He heard the bell ring as the door swung open and Rory walked in, followed by Lorelai. Jess and Rory smiled at each other, but Lorelai was really obviously avoiding Luke's eyes. He'd skipped town for a couple days; he'd needed to see Liz anyway, but it was certainly convenient that he left in time to avoid any kind of confrontation with Lorelai. Ever since that day when he'd hinted to her how he felt... he'd been nervous as hell. Did she know what he meant? And what did she think of it? And most importantly, what was she gonna do about it all?  
  
"Uh," he cleared his throat to catch Lorelai's attention. "The table by the window's free if you want it."  
  
Lorelai smiled awkwardly and nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks, Luke," she said. She and Rory sat.  
  
Jess walked back to the counter. "Don't worry," he said under his breath to Luke, "I know you're avoiding them. I'll get their orders." He smirked a little at his uncles obvious discomfort before grabbing two mugs and the coffee pot and going back to the table.  
  
"Hey," he said when he reached the table.  
  
"Hey," Rory said with a smile. They exchanged knowing glances, observing Lorelai's attempts to subtly look at Luke.  
  
"Want coffee Lorelai?" Jess asked. Lorelai snapped back to reality.  
  
"What? Oh hi! What?"  
  
Rory suppressed her laughter as she sipped her coffee.  
  
"Coffee?" Jess asked her again.  
  
"Oh yes," Lorelai smiled gratefully. "Lots. It's gonna be a long morning."  
  
Jess poured. "Here you go." He paused. "He's not busy, you can go talk to him if you want," Jess said with a smug smile as he walked away.  
  
Lorelai sighed. "It's official. I am the VERY last person to figure this whole thing out."  
  
"Well mostly," Rory agreed. "But don't worry, I'm pretty sure you got it before like... Joan Rivers or Christina Aguilera or all those famous people who are too wrapped up in their own business to care about you and Luke."  
  
"Rory, while your sarcasm is usually appreciated," Lorelai said, "Now is definitely not the time."  
  
"What's the deal, mom?" Rory whispered anxiously. "You finally know how Luke feels about you; so now what? Are you gonna tell him you know?"  
  
Lorelai laughed. "Yeah right." She paused. "I don't know. I guess I'll just play it by ear."  
  
Rory nodded. "Well let me know," she said, after taking one last sip of her coffee. "I gotta go wait for the bus. Jess, can you bring me a donut?"  
  
Moments later, Jess appeared by her side with a donut in a bag. "Here," he said, handing her the bag. "I'll wait at the bus with you. Just let me go get my stuff." Jess disappeared up the stairs as Rory put her backpack over her shoulder.  
  
"Wait, Rory, the bus doesn't come for another 15 minutes," Lorelai said.  
  
"I know," Rory said, trying not to grin too obviously. "Jess and I are just gonna sit at the bus stop and talk for a while, that's all."  
  
"Oooooh," Lorelai said, nodding with a sly smile. "I see. Here." She reached into her purse and pulled out a box of mints. "Nobody likes to kiss someone with coffee breath."  
  
"Gross, mom," Rory said, popping a mint into her mouth.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, just don't get so distracted by all the making out that you don't notice when the bus comes."  
  
"I'll try my hardest," Rory said, heading to the door. Jess joined her and they left together.  
  
Lorelai watched through the window as the two walked side by side toward the bus stop, but as they started doing all those young-couple-in-love things (wrapping arms around each other, kissing, never letting their faces get more than 3 inches apart, etc) she no longer felt comfortable using them as an excuse not to look anywhere that Luke could be. She looked deep into her coffee mug, pretending to be completely fascinated by her reflection in the dark liquid.  
  
"Lose something in there?" Luke's voice at her side startled her so much she nearly spilled the coffee all over the table.  
  
"Oh," Lorelai said with a sigh after recovering from the initial shock. "Yeah, just the meaning of life, you know." She giggled nervously.  
  
"Yeah well I wouldn't hold my breath," Luke said. "But you might keep your eye out for a sunken treasure chest or something."  
  
Lorelai chuckled a little too enthusiastically. "Hey, you made a joke!"  
  
"I have been known to do so on occasion. Once every 6 months or so, you're lucky you caught it this time." He sighed. Despite the clever banter, there was no denying the tension between them. "Uh, you wanna order some breakfast?"  
  
Lorelai smiled, grateful for a distraction. "Oh yes. Food. Always a good thing." She sighed. "Um, how about a bagel?"  
  
Luke raised his eyebrows. "No pancakes this morning?"  
  
"Yeah well, I'm feeling adventurous today. Thought I'd take a major risk and order something you don't put maple syrup and whipped cream on."  
  
Luke nodded. "Coming right up." He strolled back to the counter. Lorelai watched him walk away, and got up without thinking. She didn't really know what came over her, or how she was going to do it. But it was all she could think about doing since she'd found out about Luke's feelings and it was driving her crazy.  
  
"Hey, Luke?" she said as he was cutting her bagel in half.  
  
"What? Did you change your mind about the bagel?" he asked.  
  
She chuckled a little. "No, no, still feeling crazy and spontaneous, I just um..." she tried to casually slip onto the stool. "I'm just bored. Don't wanna sit alone. Thought maybe I'd sit at the counter and you could entertain me while I eat my boring, sugar-free bagel." She smiled.  
  
"I won't dance on the table, if that's your definition of entertainment," Luke said. "But feel free to sit. I'll make some more coffee."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Great." He gave her the bagel with a packet of cream cheese. She spread the cream cheese as he went about making coffee, and the silence was unbearable.  
  
"So," Lorelai said through a mouthful of bagel, "seen any good movies lately?"  
  
Luke tried not to point out how awkward the conversation sparker had been. "Oh, not really. Nothing good's come out lately. Just silly romantic comedies, that sorta thing."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. It's a shame isn't it? All the good movies are in video stores, and our local video store doesn't even have any good ones. Well except for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. That's a classic."  
  
Luke shook his head. "Whatever you say."  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened. "You've never seen Willy Wonka?"  
  
"If I say no, are you gonna make me watch it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then yes, I've seen it many times. I even had it memorized a few years ago, but what can I tell ya? It's been slipping away from me lately."  
  
"Yeah, THAT'S believable." Lorelai took another bite and tried to figure out how to word what she wanted to communicate. "So um... listen, in a couple weeks, after the Stars Hollow High graduation, Rory and Lane and Jess are gonna be going to this graduation party at Ronnie Carson's house-"  
  
"They are?" Luke asked. "Jess didn't tell me."  
  
"Well he doesn't tell you a lot of things," Lorelai said. "But anyway-"  
  
"You're letting Rory go to some unsupervised graduation party with Jess?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. He really wasn't making this easy. "Yes, I'm letting her go. I trust her. Remember, Rory's the good one. The one who tells me everything and who hasn't done anything wrong ever in her whole life? I think they're planning to make her a saint after she dies."  
  
"I know, I know, I just wasn't sure about this whole-"  
  
"Luke shut up, I'm trying to ask you something and you're making it difficult."  
  
Luke stopped his rant, surprised by this unusual and infrequent serious tone in Lorelai's voice. "I'm listening."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "So anyway, my kid's gonna be gone. Your kid's gonna be gone. I was planning on stopping by the big video store in Hartford on my way back from the Grandparent's dinner the week before, you know, cuz they have a better selection there than here. They actually carry all the Rocky movies, and I don't know about you, but to me that says quality." She chuckled slightly. "But, uh, anyway, I was just... you know, thinking... you and I don't spend that much time together-"  
  
"I see you everyday. Usually twice a day."  
  
"I know, but that's in a working environment. I mean socially."  
  
Luke eyed her nervously. "What are you getting at Lorelai?"  
  
Lorelai smiled a little. "I thought it might be fun if you... maybe came over and we watched some videos." Luke didn't say anything. He looked confused and shocked, and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. "Nothing formal, just some pop corn and snack foods. Unhealthy ones for me, but hey, you could have... carrot sticks, or-celery sticks... any kind of vegetable stick-"  
  
"What movie?"  
  
Lorelai giggled. "So it speaks." She thought a moment. "Um, how about minority report? I've been meaning to see that for a while."  
  
Luke nodded. "Sounds good to me."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Great. So... ok. It's a date. I mean-not a DATE, but like a date. As in on a calendar. So really it's a DAY. You know, I could just say it's a plan and avoid all this confusion." She laughed nervously. "Alright, well um... I'll see you later probably."  
  
"Probably," Luke said. Lorelai picked up the half of her bagel she hadn't eaten and stood.  
  
"I'm gonna go to work."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea," Luke said.  
  
"Alright," Lorelai said with a smile. "See ya later!" she walked out of the diner as fast as her legs could carry her.  
  
Luke walked into the back room to make some fries. He really didn't want anyone to see the huge smile on his face.  
********************************************  
"So," Jess said to Rory over the phone. "This Friday. What are you doing?"  
  
"I don't know. I'll have to check my schedule. Why?"  
  
"Just thought we could go somewhere," he said under his breath. Luke was in the other room, and he didn't want him to overhear anything suspicious.  
  
Rory couldn't help blushing a little. "I want to-I REALLY do-but, as usual, I have the grandparent's dinner and I don't know how much time I'll have afterwards."  
  
Jess sighed. "Just tell Lorelai we're gonna go to that coffee place we went to after the prom."  
  
"Joe's café?" Rory asked. She sighed. "I could probably make it work. What time?" She grabbed her date planner out of her backpack to write down the time and place.  
  
"Well I figure you can be done with dinner by 8 if you hurry, which means you can get to Joe's by 8:20. But I should probably give you 20 minutes extra in case your grandmother goes nuts and insists you stay later like she always does. Sound reasonable?" There was no answer on the other end. "Hello?" Still no answer. "Rory, where did I lose you?"  
  
"Oh," Rory said, snapping back to reality. "Sorry, just... got distracted."  
  
"No problem. But how late can you-"  
  
"Is it the 29th?"  
  
"Yes it is. Random much?"  
  
"Sorry, I just-hold on." She flipped through the pages of her date book quickly. "1 week, 2, 3, 4... she trailed off. "Oh God..."  
  
"What's the matter?" Jess asked, confused.  
  
"Nothing, I-I just... thought I missed an appointment that I scheduled, that's all. No big deal." She paused. "I'll call you tomorrow, Jess, I gotta go."  
  
"What? Rory-"  
  
She hung up. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but tried to be rational. She'd just wait a day or two. It was probably just a miscalculation, something stupid like that. She would just wait a while...  
  
"Rory!!!" Lorelai called, slamming the front door behind her. Rory tried to snap herself out of the trance she'd fallen into.  
  
"Thank GOD you're home," Lorelai sighed, collapsing on Rory's bed and kicking her shoes off. Rory tried her hardest to focus on her mother and not get distracted by her recent revelation.  
  
"Long day huh?" Rory asked her.  
  
Lorelai groaned. "You have NO idea." Lorelai paused and rolled onto her side to establish eye contact with Rory. "So," she began. "I did something kind of wacky today?"  
  
"Was it something illegal?"  
  
"No, no, just... one of those things that you look back at all day and think 'Whoa. Where did THAT come from?"'  
  
"Just tell me," Rory insisted. "The suspense is unbearable."  
  
"Ok. But get ready, cuz this one's a whopper."  
  
"Whopper?"  
  
"SO not the point."  
  
"Right. Sorry. So what did you do?"  
  
Lorelai sighed. "I think I kinda... sorta.... Maybe-"  
  
"Almost, nearly, somewhat, etc. Move on to the verb."  
  
"I think I asked Luke out."  
  
Rory's eyes went wide and her heart stopped. "You WHAT?"  
  
"I know, I know," Lorelai said, burying her face in her hands.  
  
"What on earth possessed you and made you decide to ask Luke out on a date?" Rory asked, half confused, half excited. She'd been waiting for a long time for her mother to find happiness, and she'd always believed that Luke had the potential to be the one guy who could really make Lorelai happy. But she didn't want her mother to screw it up, and she knew that if Lorelai started dating Luke before she was really sure of her feelings for him, then it would ruin everything.  
  
"I don't know," Lorelai said shaking her head. "The thing is, it's not even really a date. It's supposed to be casual; he's coming over to watch a video."  
  
"You're not gonna make him watch Willy Wonka, are you?" Rory asked, fearing that the relationship would be over before it even began.  
  
"No, we're gonna watch a boy movie," Lorelai said. "Minority report."  
  
"Ooooh, good choice," Rory commented. "Oh, but don't spend the whole time making kissy noises every time Tom Cruise comes on the screen. I know it makes me laugh, but it might make Luke a little uncomfortable."  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Duly noted."  
  
"So how did you ask him?" Rory demanded. "I want details."  
  
"I don't know!" Lorelai said, sitting up. "I mean, I knew when I went in there that morning that I was confused about how I felt about this whole thing. And I just... I can't really tell if there's something there."  
  
Of course there's something there, Rory wanted to scream at her, but she held her tongue. Lorelai had to figure this out for herself.  
  
Lorelai continued. "I guess I just figured that if I spent some time with him-outside of the diner setting, and without him fixing anything-then maybe I'd be able to tell if there's any.... Potential, you know?"  
  
Rory nodded. "So when is said sort-of-date taking place?"  
  
"The night of that graduation party that you and Jess and Lane are going to."  
  
"Oooo, you guys have the house to yourselves all night," Rory teased. "How romantic."  
  
"Stop," Lorelai said. "I'll smother you with a pillow."  
  
"I think it's generally frowned upon when mother's smother their children with pillows."  
  
"Yeah well I could pull it off." Lorelai stood up. "I could hide the body in the laundry pile and no one would ever venture into it to look for you." She walked into the kitchen. "I'm ordering Pizza!" she called.  
  
Rory sighed. She wanted so badly to just walk into the next room and ask her mother what to do. She was scared, and whenever she was scared, Lorelai had always been the first person she turned to. But now she just couldn't bring herself to. At first she'd been keeping the step she and Jess had taken a secret from her mom because she wanted to have it all to herself, like a normal teenage girl. She didn't want her mother to see her in that new light just yet. But now.... now she was scared of what her mother might do. She'd promised to tell her before she and Jess did anything, and she'd broken that promise... and now there was no telling how angry Lorelai would be when she found out.  
  
She couldn't ask Lorelai for her help. She'd have to figure things out for herself. She'd wait for 24 hours and see if it was just a false alarm. And if nothing changed by then... well, THEN she could start panicking.  
************************************************  
"Oh my god."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Sookie, all you've said for the past 10 minutes is 'Oh My God'. Please say something else, I'm getting a little freaked out here."  
  
"I'm sorry," Sookie said," but... oh my GOD!" she giggled. "This is huge!"  
  
"It's not that huge," Lorelai said. "It's totally casual. My house, not dressed up, just hanging out with snacks and a video. It's like any other night with me and Rory, except now Rory's grown a foot, and has developed slight facial hair and a tendency to feel naked when not wearing an old backwards baseball cap-"  
  
"Lorelai, it is NOT just any other night with Rory," Sookie said, taking the bunt cake she'd made out of the oven. "Luke is NOT Rory. Luke is crazy about you, and I know he's not gonna be comfortable just being your Rory substitute. He probably thinks you asked him on a trial date to see if he has potential. You can't just expect him to sit there with you and mock the movie while you throw popcorn at the screen whenever the evil guy comes on the screen-"  
  
"Hey I only did that once. Are you ever gonna let me forget it?"  
  
Sookie pouted. "It was my favorite movie. You ruined it."  
  
"Sorry," Lorelai said reluctantly. She sighed. "So what exactly are you saying? That I should pretend like it's a REAL date? Should I wear a pretty skirt and immensely uncomfortable shoes and suck my stomach in the whole night and try not to make too many references to strange 80's bands that no one's heard of?"  
  
"No," Sookie said. "You just have to try to be a little more serious about it. This is probably a big deal to Luke. If he shows up expecting a date, and you're in your sweat pants playing the first Spice Girls album at top volume, he's gonna be crushed that you aren't taking it seriously, and you know it."  
  
"I guess you're right," Lorelai said, sipping her coffee. "So I'll put some effort into it. I'll wear real clothes and order some take out that's actually edible and try to behave myself. How's that?"  
  
Sookie smiled. "Good. It's gonna be fun," she said, excitedly.  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, I guess it will be." She stood up with a sigh. "Ugh, these shoes are killing me. I'm gonna run home real quick and change them."  
  
"Oh!" Sookie called as she headed toward the door. "I'm sorry. You can't take your car."  
  
"Why not Sook?" Lorelai asked suspiciously. Sookie wrinkled her nose with guilt.  
  
"Because I sort of let one of the busboys to the market to get us some more chocolate chips and I said he could take your car." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "It's ok. I'll just walk. I could use the exercise anyway, seeing as how the reason all the chocolate chips are gone is that I stole a bag and ate them all." Lorelai took her high heels off and walked out the door barefoot. "I'll be back soon!"  
************************************  
Rory stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her. She was scared, she was confused, and since she didn't like either of these emotions much, she was angry. She'd waited a day, and things were still the same. Now she didn't know what to do.  
  
All day she'd been distracted. She couldn't focus in class or at the Franklin. She knew her mother would be at the Inn pretty late that night. This was good; it gave her the privacy to do the only thing she could think to do. Call Lane.  
  
The phone seemed to ring forever, but when it was answered, she was glad Lane herself picked up. She was in too bitter of a mood to suck up to Mrs. Kim.  
  
"Hello?" Lane's voice came over the receiver.  
  
Rory replied with a harsh tone in her voice. "Lane. Hi there."  
  
Lane picked up on her anger immediately. "Whoa. What did I do?"  
  
"Nothing.  
  
"So then why are you mad at me?"  
  
"You?" Rory said, still angry. "I'm not mad at you."  
  
"Oh Good," Lane breathed a sigh of relief. "Cuz that would really suck, if you were mad at me. What's the matter? You sound like you've got battle face on."  
  
Rory sighed. "Lane I need your help."  
  
"That's what I'm here for. To help you."  
  
Rory paused. "I need to get my hands on a pregnancy test.  
  
There was silence on the other end, until finally, Lane said calmly, "I can't help you there."  
  
Rory sighed frustrated. "Ugh! I'm so screwed!  
  
"Wait," Lane said. "Explain before I get too lost."  
  
"Lane I'm late," Rory said without hesitation. The thought didn't make her uneasy anymore, it made her outraged.  
  
"Late for what?" Lane asked optimistically. "Cuz if you leave now, you could probably-"  
  
"Lane!" Rory interrupted the potential ramble.  
  
"Ok. Sorry. Just holding on desperately to my last shred of wishful thinking." She paused. "Wow. How late exactly?"  
  
"A couple days," Rory said, less angry now that she had gotten it off her chest and actually said it aloud. "I mean, it's not unusual for my cycle to be irregular, but I've never been late after sleeping with someone before, and since we did it twice, and I'm not on the pill, I think I'm having an aneurysm and that can't be good for Ella."  
  
"Ella?" Lane asked. "Who's Ella?"  
  
"The child I may or may not bear in 9 months," Rory responded automatically.  
  
"You named your unconfirmed fetus?"  
  
"Well I've spent a lot of time worrying the past couple days."  
  
"But you named it ELLA?" Lane asked, incredulous.  
  
"Yeah," Rory answered. "After Ella Fitzgerald. I have a feeling it's a girl."  
  
"It's a week old!" Lane cried. "It doesn't even have boy/girl parts yet! That is, IF it even exists!" she paused. "Also, I don't really see yours and Jess' child as an Ella."  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah I know, you're right. But how about Frank, if it's a boy?"  
  
"Rory!" Lane yelled. "Get a grip! You're usually the rational one and your behavior is messing up our chemistry. Now stop trying to name your unborn possibly non-existent week old fetus!!!!"  
  
"Yes Ma'am," Rory said meekly.  
  
"Ok," Lane said, determined. "First thing's first. We need a pregnancy test. Now buying one in town is obviously out of the question. Everybody would know within 20 minutes."  
  
"Agreed," Rory said. "Miss Patty's spies are lurking everywhere."  
  
"But no matter where we could go, we'd need someone else to buy it for us."  
  
"Why can't I just get it myself in Hartford?" Rory asked.  
  
"Oh please," Lane said. "You're telling me with all the money she has, you're grandmother doesn't have spies too?"  
  
Rory paused. "What was that you were saying earlier about ME being irrational?"  
  
"Eureka!" Lane cried. "I've got it!"  
  
"Wow you're so lucky," Rory commented. "I've never had a 'Eureka' moment before."  
  
"I'll make one of the guys in the band buy it. Not Dave. Oh, how about Brian? He doesn't usually have anything better to do."  
  
"Ok!" Rory agreed enthusiastically. "It's a plan!"  
  
"It's a GOOD plan!" Lane exclaimed, surprised at her own ability to handle the situation. "I'm psyched! It will work-I have confidence in this plan."  
  
Rory's exasperated, chocked up voice on the other line brought Lane back from her momentary enthusiasm. "Lane?"  
  
"Yeah?" she answered.  
  
Rory sighed and tried not to let the tears she was holding back fall onto her cheek. "I'm really scared..."  
  
"I know," Lane said, not sure of what else to say.  
  
"What do I say to Jess?" Rory asked, worried.  
  
"Nothing now," Lane said. "It might be a false alarm, and you don't want to scare him if it is."  
  
"I know...." Rory admitted. "But what if it's not a false alarm? Do I just stay in Stars Hollow my whole life, skip college, and raise little Frankella?"  
  
"No!" Lane said sympatheticall, "Honey, I would never, EVER, let you name your child Frankella."  
  
Rory chuckled a little through her tears. "I love you Lane."  
  
"You too Rory," Lane said with a smile. "Hey, my mom's in a good mood tonight. If I tell her you're crying, she'll probably let you sleep over out of pity for you."  
  
Rory smiled. "Thanks. I'll call my mom's cell and tell her that I'll be at your place for the night."  
  
"Ok," Lane said. "And don't worry. Everything will be ok."  
  
"Thanks," Rory said, gratefully. "Bye."  
  
She hung up and immediately called her mother's cell phone to leave a message about staying at Lane's. Afterwards, she quickly dried her tears and grabbed her backpack, and then headed out to the Kim house.  
  
Lorelai, who had been silently standing at the top of the stairs, felt like she could barely breathe. It felt like a lifetime before her legs managed to carry her out the door and back to the Inn.  
A/N: Oh I'm so evil cuz I'm cutting you off now guys!!!! Heheh sorry. Ok, just so you know, this is not gonna be cliché, no worries. There are a lot of red herrings (false setups) in this chapter, it's not all gonna turn out the way it looks like it's gonna. I'll update as soon as I can, but I gotta tell ya, the next chapter is gonna be tough to write. As always, if you read and review, you are my favorite, and I send you a karmic cookie along with my love. Mwa!!!! 


	9. Facing Consequences

Part 10  
  
Facing Consequences  
  
********************************  
  
I know some things  
  
Never change  
  
But this can't be one of them  
  
And I don't think I can stand it  
  
Any Longer  
  
Are you scared?  
  
Are you scared?  
  
Are you scared?  
  
Cuz if you're scared,  
  
You're not alone....  
  
********************************  
  
Lane knocked on the bathroom door anxiously. "You almost finished?"  
  
"Just a second!" Rory called back through the door, bitterly. Moments later the door swung open and Rory held up the tiny stick that would decide her fate in 120 seconds. She placed it down on top of the box it had come in, started the timer Lane had set up while she was in the bathroom, and crossed her arms, grumpily.  
  
"You look frustrated," Lane commented. "How do you feel?"  
  
Rory glared. "I just peed on a stick. How do you think I feel?"  
  
"Look," Lane began. "I know you're nervous and scared and everything, but let's just try to stay optimistic until we know for sure, huh?"  
  
"You mean try to be optimistic for the next 100 seconds?"  
  
"Couldn't hurt," Lane said, shrugging.  
  
It was only 8 o'clock. Brian had been extremely helpful. He sensed in Lane's voice over the phone that running this errand was immensely important, and so, having nothing better to do, he ran out to get the test immediately, and then headed straight to Stars Hollow. Rory and Lane went out and met him at Doose's Market, where he gave them the bag with the test inside, and then returned immediately to Lane's house. Mrs. Kim was a little suspicious, but not so worried that she stayed home to keep an eye on them instead of going to her church choir rehearsal. Rory was glad she'd left them alone. It was hard enough keeping this a secret from her mother... and come to think of it, everyone she knew except for Lane. She didn't need Mrs. Kim peering over her shoulder all the time.  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok, I'm trying to do the optimistic thing, but I'm just WAY too nervous." She started pacing around the room. "I need-a distraction. Something to keep my mind elsewhere."  
  
"Oh!" Lane exclaimed. "I know! Music!" Lane ran to her closet and pressed play. "Femme Fatale" by the Velvet Underground started playing.  
  
Rory smiled slightly, hearing the familiar beginning. "I like this song." She paused. "But it's not really distracting me from the nervousness."  
  
Lane racked her brain for a way to help. "Um... um... oh, how about some obscure musical facts?"  
  
"It's worth a try. Go ahead."  
  
"Um-um-OH! This song was written by Lou Reed about Nico. Cuz you know what's interesting, is that he wasn't incredibly fond of her. Lou and Nico both wanted to be the front man-well in Nico's case, front woman-"  
  
"It's not helping," Rory cut her off. "I need to do something physically distracting."  
  
"Ok." Lane paused, contemplating. "Oh! Do Jumping Jacks!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't think, just DO!!!"  
  
Rory nodded and started doing jumping jacks in a steady rhythm along with the music. Lane joined her. It was 20 seconds before Rory asked, "Lane, why are we doing jumping jacks?"  
  
"I don't know. Is it working?"  
  
"Surprisingly, yes."  
  
"Ok well keep it up!"  
  
But there wasn't anytime left. After ten more seconds, the timer went off. Rory and Lane froze simultaneously, staring at the timer, both of them dreading what they'd see when they looked at the test.  
  
"So..." Rory said. "It's done, huh?"  
  
"Yeah," Lane said, panting. "Suddenly, I'm very worried. How bad does my physical state have to be that I get out of breath after 30 seconds of jumping jacks?"  
  
Rory didn't answer. She just stared at the floor.  
  
"Rory are you ok?" Lane asked. "Ok, that was a stupid question. But-what are you feeling? Dread? Nervousness? Terror? Anxiety?"  
  
"Pretty much all of those at once," Rory answered. "So do we just-look at it now?"  
  
Lane nodded. "I guess so." Neither one of them made a move toward it. "Do you want me to go look at it for you?"  
  
"No, no," Rory shook her head. "I mean, I can handle it..." she paused. After a few moments, she tried to take a step toward the box on the table, but feeling the sudden numbness in her legs and sinking feeling in her stomach, she decided against it. She sat quickly on the bed. "On second thought, I really can't handle it. So you should probably do it."  
  
Lane nodded. "Ok. I can do that." She took two steps toward the test before turning back and sitting right beside Rory on the bed. "I can't do this," she whined.  
  
"Lane!" Rory pleaded. "I need you right now! Don't wimp out on me!"  
  
Lane sighed. "All right, let's just get this over with." She walked over as quickly as she could and picked it up. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.  
  
"Oh God," Rory said. "What is it?"  
  
"That's the problem," Lane answered. "I don't know."  
  
"What do you mean you don't know?"  
  
"I don't know what it means!" Lane cried. "It's blue, but I forgot what that means!"  
  
"Well read the box!!!"  
  
"Ok, ok!!!" Lane picked it up, her eyes scanning the tiny print on the back. "Ok, how to use, blah blah blah, we already did that. Wait 2 minutes before the stripe fully appears--Aha!!!! Blue means..." she stopped.  
  
"What?" Rory asked, her voice barely loud enough to hear. "What does it mean?"  
  
Finally, Lane smiled slightly. "Let's just say you'll have at least a few more years now to find a better name than Frankella."  
  
Rory felt her stomach jump. "What?"  
  
"False alarm," Lane said, grinning.  
  
Rory breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?"  
  
"Would I lie to you about something like this?"  
  
"Well maybe if you were really cruel."  
  
Lane offered the test to her. "Here, see for yourself."  
  
Rory took it. "Wow. That's the most beautiful blue stripe I've ever seen."  
  
Lane nodded. "I agree. I feel suddenly as though I've taken their beauty for granted all these years."  
  
"Who knew they could symbolize so much?"  
  
"Happiness," Lane offered.  
  
"A bright future," Rory suggested.  
  
"A chance at life, as opposed to your mother killing you."  
  
Rory nodded. "Yes, that too." They both admired the blue stripe for a while. After a few minutes, Rory put it down, wrinkling her nose in disgust.  
  
"What's wrong?" Lane asked.  
  
"I'm suddenly remembering that I peed on that, and therefore holding it up like that and admiring it doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore," Rory said. They both exchanged looks of disgust.  
  
"We should throw it away," Rory said.  
  
"Not here," Lane said, shaking her head. "Mama Kim would find it. She has like this sixth sense that can sense when things are in the garbage that no one should have had here in the first place. I got grounded for a month when she found a Cosmo magazine in my trash can."  
  
"Ok," Rory said. "We need a plastic, not transparent bag. I'll take it out and put it in one of Luke's trash bins or something."  
  
"Why Luke's?" Lane asked.  
  
Rory smiled. "Well, I haven't exactly been the best girlfriend lately, what with the whole pregnancy scare and all, but with this recent news, I have a very strong urge to see Jess."  
  
Lane nodded. "I see." she handed Rory a bag to put the test in. "Are you gonna tell him what happened?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I think so. I mean I owe him that much." She bit her lip. "Still don't have any idea HOW I'm gonna tell him, but I'm going to try."  
  
"Well good," Lane tried to be as supportive as she could. "I wouldn't worry, he'll probably be cool about it."  
  
Rory snickered. "I'm sorry, have you MET Jess?"  
  
Lane smiled. "Ok so he's probably gonna flip out at first. But as soon as you explain, he'll be fine." She sighed. "He loves you."  
  
Rory smiled. "I know," she said. "And you really like telling me that, don't you?"  
  
"What tipped you off?" Lane asked. "The fact that I say it every time I see you?"  
  
"Not so much that, as the way you and my mother discuss it over the phone sometimes."  
  
"You heard that?" Lane asked. Rory giggled.  
  
"I'm going to Luke's." she took her bag and headed to the door, but turned back. "Thank you, Lane."  
  
Lane smiled. "Hey, anytime. But not really anytime. I'd really appreciate it if from now on you could avoid pregnancy scares like this. Because it really wore me out, with the jumping jacks and everything."  
  
"Duly noted." Rory said as she walked out the door. "Be back later!"  
****************************************************  
Luke looked up when he heard the bell by the door and saw Rory walk in. He stood up straight, suddenly self-conscious. Did she know what had happened the other morning? How was he supposed to act? Like nothing happened? He knew Lorelai told Rory almost everything.... But not absolutely everything, and what if this was one of those things she didn't feel the need to tell?  
  
Thankfully, Rory seemed too distracted by something to even care. "Luke, is Jess around?" she asked before she even reached the counter.  
  
"Oh, yeah," he said with a slight smirk. He added under his breath, "he's been upstairs for a few hours. He hasn't said anything about it, but I think it's pretty obvious he's waiting for you to call."  
  
"Why do you think that?"  
  
"Because he brought the portable phone in the bathroom with him when he showered so he wouldn't miss any calls."  
  
Rory smiled a little.  
  
"Just don't tell him I told you that," Luke said. "His ego would be all wounded, and it'd just be a big mess-"  
  
"I know," Rory said. "My lips are sealed." She sighed. "Can I go up and get him?"  
  
"Sure," Luke said. "But you know the rules. I'll be up every-"  
  
"Every ten minutes, I remember. But I actually was hoping we could go out somewhere."  
  
Luke nodded. "Sure thing. Go on up."  
  
Rory walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. Moments later Jess opened it, trying not to look as overjoyed as he was to see her. When she'd hung up on him the other night, she'd left the phone off the hook, knowing he'd try to call her back. It didn't exactly give him confidence that everything was working out ok.  
  
"Hey," he said. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I, uh... I came because I need to talk to you about something."  
  
He nodded solemnly. "Yeah."  
  
"No, no, don't worry!" she said. "It's nothing bad. Well, not REALLY-I don't know, it kind of depends on how you interpret it."  
  
Jess opened the door wider to let her come in. "I'm all ears."  
  
"Actually," she said, "I was hoping we could go somewhere. Just outside somewhere. I just don't wanna do this here, with Luke bursting in every ten minutes-"  
  
"I get it," Jess said, grabbing his denim jacket. "Let's go."  
  
She could sense that he wasn't looking forward to this. For some reason, every time things started to get even a little rocky between the two of them, he seemed to think she was about to break up with him. But she hardly blamed him. All his life he'd been left by people, hurt by people-hell, even she'd treated him like crap after they kissed that day at Sookie's wedding. After he'd closed the door and was about to head down the stairs, she grabbed him impulsively by the arm and pulled him into a long kiss.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked, confused.  
  
"I'm not going to break up with you," Rory said with a comforting smile. "Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ANYTIME soon, ok? I promise."  
  
"I didn't say I thought you-"  
  
"You had a look," Rory said. "You didn't have to say it." she smiled a little. "Let's go." She continued down the stairs. Jess smiled, relieved, as he followed her.  
  
As soon as they got around the corner from the diner, they were completely alone. The streets of Stars Hollow tended not to be inhabited by anybody after 7 o'clock unless people were on their way to Luke's or on their way home from Luke's.  
  
"So," Jess tried to spark conversation. "What happened last night?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Well... it was nothing really. I just-momentarily freaked out about something."  
  
Jess looked at her expectantly but she kept her eyes to the ground. He laughed, incredulous that she wasn't making any attempt to elaborate.  
  
"That's all?" he asked. "That's all you're gonna tell me? You freaked out about SOMETHING?"  
  
Rory stopped walking and faced him. "Well I'm trying to elaborate, but I don't really know how to say this, so give me a minute!" she said in a slightly whiny voice. One thing she'd certainly inherited from her mother was a tendency to become immature when in uncomfortable situations.  
  
"Ok, ok," Jess said. "Take your time."  
  
Rory sighed. "You're going to completely overreact."  
  
Jess' face froze. "Oh God," he muttered.  
  
"What?" Rory asked, confused. "Oh God what?" There was no way he'd guessed it already from the things she'd said.  
  
"Don't say what I think you're gonna say," he said.  
  
"What do you think I'm gonna say?"  
  
"Did you and Dean-I mean, did something happen with Dean that I should know- "  
  
Rory interrupted him with a loud chuckle. "Don't even think that," she said through laughter. "Dean is not even on the radar screen right now-not with everything that's been going on with us lately."  
  
Jess looked confused. "Then what the hell's going on?"  
  
Rory looked at the ground. "Ok... um... well remember how you and I kind of... slept together?"  
  
"Yes, I believe I do vaguely recall that," he answered sarcastically. "What about it?"  
  
"Well see Jess," Rory began, "Sometimes, when two people sleep together, there are certain consequences-"  
  
"I took the class in the 8th grade, I'm familiar with all this," he said. "You can just skip to the part that concerns us in particular."  
  
Rory took a deep breath, "Well, the thing is... the other night when we were on the phone, and I was looking at my day planner, I noticed something about the date that really worried me." She raised her eyebrows, giving him a pointed stare, hoping he'd catch on and fill in the rest of the blanks for himself. He just looked more confused than ever.  
  
"You probably should just spell it out for me," he said. "I mean, YOU are the smart one, remember?"  
  
She ran her fingers through her hair anxiously, and decided to just say it and get it over with. "For a while, I thought I was pregnant."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
Rory winced. He looked... well, a little more freaked out than she'd EVER seen him.  
  
He turned and started walking away. "Wait, Jess!" Rory called after him, "Don't just leave!"  
  
"I'm not leaving," he said, turning back to her, but keeping his eyes focused on the pavement. "I'm pacing-there's a difference."  
  
Rory stepped back a little, sensing that he needed some space. She was quiet, unsure of what she could say to make it better, since she wasn't even sure why he was reacting this way. She expected him to be weirded out, but not panicked like this.  
  
Finally he turned back to her. "Damn it, HOW can you be so calm about all this?" he accused her.  
  
"Well, I wasn't calm at first," she replied. "In fact, I was acting exactly the way you are, with the pacing and the... well, more pacing, until I took the test and found out it was a blue stripe-"  
  
"Blue stripe? What does that mean, it's a boy?"  
  
Rory's eyes widened. Suddenly she understood why he was so nervous. He hadn't caught the past tense when she said she thought she was pregnant. He was under the impression that she still thought she was.  
  
"No! no!" she cried. "Blue stripe doesn't mean Boy baby, it means non- existent baby."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Rory sighed, trying to be as clear as possible. "There's no baby," she said. "I am completely unfertilized as of this moment. It was just a false alarm."  
  
"Oh my God," Jess muttered as he turned away again and started walking.  
  
"Are you leaving, or doing the pacing thing again?" she asked.  
  
Jess turned back, not answering her. "Someday, you're gonna give me a heart attack, you know that?"  
  
Rory smiled meekly. "I'm sorry?"  
  
He sighed, shaking his head. "So you're totally sure?"  
  
Rory nodded. "100 percent." She paused. "Are you still mad?"  
  
Jess sat on the steps of the gazebo, his elbows on his knees. "I wasn't mad," he said. Rory sat by his side on the steps as he continued. "I was fearing for my life, that's all. I mean, seriously, Rory. If there were ONE unforgivable sin in Stars Hollow, it would be getting you pregnant. They'd all run me out of town with pitch forks and torches."  
  
Rory smiled and tried to lighten the mood. "I'd never let them do that to you. Besides, we don't even have that many pitchforks in town. Regular forks, sure. But they don't really have the same effect... well actually I guess they could. I mean, I know I'd be scared if a whole bunch of angry crazy people came at me with forks."  
  
"You're hilarious," Jess commented sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah well I try," she answered. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you right away, I just... I thought you would freak out. And it turns out I wasn't altogether wrong in my prediction. Not that it makes it excusable, I just-"  
  
"It's ok," Jess admitted. "If it'd happened to me, I woulda' done the same thing."  
  
"You mean if you thought you were pregnant?" Rory asked with a smirk.  
  
"Yeah well I'm not on the pill or anything, so it's something I gotta worry about," Jess played along.  
  
"Jess is there something you'd like to tell me?"  
  
He smirked. "Yes, Rory. I'm pregnant."  
  
"Oh boy, what a pickle we're in," she said.  
  
"You better stick around and not become one of those deadbeat mothers, cuz I'll give your picture to America's most wanted in a heartbeat."  
  
"You wouldn't."  
  
"Yeah? Try me."  
  
Rory smiled. "So we're good? No more crazy pacing and such?"  
  
"As far as I can see, yeah." The corners of his lips curled up a little as he leaned in to kiss her, and she immediately pulled him closer to her. She'd gotten so attached to him over the past few weeks that even separation for more than 24 hours seemed unbearable. It just felt natural, to be kissing him and touching him. She knew that right then she had to hurry back to Lane's, and they didn't have any time... but she wanted him. She couldn't pretend she didn't. She pulled away from him a little.  
  
"I have to go," she said softly.  
  
"Oh come on," Jess said. "Stay."  
  
"I want to," she said. "But I can't." She sighed and kissed him again. "I'll call you tomorrow."  
  
Jess smirked. "Call me irrational, but I'm beginning to want more than just your word for it."  
  
She smiled. "I promise." She held up her pinky. "Pinky swear. Come on, give me your pinky."  
  
Jess chuckled, shaking his head, and let her fold her pinky around his.  
  
"I won't let you down," she assured him. She kissed him again quickly before standing up and heading back to Lane's house.  
*****************************************************  
"Mom!!!" Rory called. "I'm home!!!"  
  
It was 4:30 PM the next day, and Rory had just gotten home. Usually after school, she was home by 3:30, but today she'd had to spend some extra time at Lane's house, prepping for the conversation Rory was about to have. She'd made up her mind the night before, lying in bed awake. She had to ask her mother about birth control pills.  
  
She had no intention of telling her that she and Jess had already had sex. She would just make it sound like a precaution. She had already mentioned to her months before that she was thinking about it, so it would be no big shock... she hoped.  
  
"Rory?" Lorelai called, coming down the stairs, trying not to seem too eager to see her daughter. She'd been through such a huge range of emotions over the night and day since she'd overheard the conversation, she really had just needed to see Rory's face, and let her natural instinct as a mother tell her what to do. Now that she saw her, walking into the living room in her uniform, completely unaware that her mother had overheard her, she suddenly felt... well, scared to tell Rory she knew. She'd decided, after tossing and turning for hours in bed awake, that she would confront Rory about it, trying not to be too angry, but obviously not happy about it either. But now, seeing her, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was scared Rory would hate her for having listened, that somehow it would ruin what the two of them had. She really just wanted to pretend she hadn't heard it, because she couldn't bring herself to look at her daughter's sweet, innocent, smiling face, and think that she had not only slept with Jess, but also lied about it, and now was possibly pregnant. She wanted Rory to tell her about it, so she wouldn't ever have to tell Rory she knew. She didn't want to bring it up. She felt completely ashamed of her immaturity and inability to face the problem... but she couldn't help it.  
  
She walked down the stairs. She couldn't tell if the immediate and obvious tension between them was completely of her own creation, because Rory seemed awkward and nervous too. She tried to casually sit on the couch and spark up normal conversation. "So, how was Lane's house?"  
  
Rory smiled. "Oh. It was fun." Silence hung in the air. "Um, mom?"  
  
"Yeah honey?" Lorelai sat up and looked her in the eye. She was going to be attentive. She was going to be supportive of everything Rory said. If Rory were about to say, 'I'm gonna get a soda from the fridge', Lorelai would cheer her on throughout the entire event. She wanted to be super-cool mom, so that Rory would feel like she could tell her anything, and hopefully she would.  
  
She was overdoing it a little though. Rory felt almost intimidated by Lorelai's overwhelming kindness. It wasn't natural. She looked like a high school guidance counselor. Rory looked at her hands, hoping it would make it easier to speak. "I um... I was wondering... well, there's been some stuff going on the past couple weeks-important stuff-and I was wondering if we could talk."  
  
Lorelai nodded, her super-cool-mom smile still plastered on her face, and completely contradicting the look of desperation in her eyes. "Sure honey, you know we can always talk about anything." She paused. "What's it about? School? Personal stuff? Boy stuff?" she swallowed and tried to make it come off as an innocent guess when she added, "Sex?"  
  
But Rory had caught the strange pitch in her voice when she said it. She knew how to read her mother better than anyone, and now that she had read her, she felt her stomach drop. Her hands went cold and her heartbeat raced. "Oh my god," she said, disbelieving. It was clear to her. "You know already, don't you?"  
  
****************************************************  
  
A/N: mwahahahahaah. Cliff hanger endings!!!!! So much fun. I bet u guys hate them. If I'm overdoing it, let me know in reviews. And seriously, keep reviewing because those who review and express opinions definitely have influence over how and what I write. Hehehe aren't you all glad I didn't make Rory pregnant? I promise guys, I won't let you down. There are always false problems introduced, that's how long stories stay alive. If things seem to start going down hill, don't worry. No matter what, I will always bring them back up, because this story is going to have a HAPPY ENDING. As always, you guys who read and review are my heroes and I love you all. The Rory and Lorelai Discussion comes soon!!!!!! I'm already writing it and... well... it's juicy. Lot's of fun to write. Ok gotta go sleep. Bye!!!  
  
~Emaline 


	10. Everything Falls Apart

Part 11  
  
Everything Falls Apart  
  
**********************************************************  
  
If you can be honest  
  
I can be too  
  
If you'll take the first step  
  
I'll follow you through  
  
But no one wants to bleed  
  
No one wants to hide  
  
No one wants to hurt  
  
Alone inside....  
  
*********************************************************  
  
"Oh my God," Rory said, disbelieving. "You already know, don't you?"  
  
A million things flew through Lorelai's mind. She'd wanted to play dumb, to pretend she didn't know. She wanted to let Rory come out and say it, so their trust would never have been broken. But she couldn't help it-she was angry. No, more like overwhelmed. But one trait that always was passed on through the Gilmore genes was the use of defensive angry tactics in overwhelming situations.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice harsh. "What exactly do you think I already know? The fact that you slept with Jess, the fact that you weren't planning on telling me, or the fact that you might be pregnant?"  
  
"Oh my God," Rory muttered to herself, standing up and taking a few steps away from her mother. She knew she couldn't walk away; Lorelai would follow her. She just didn't know what to do; all she knew was that her gut instinct told her to physically distance herself from the conversation. "Oh my God," she repeated. This was a disaster.  
  
"That's fine," Lorelai said. "Just keep saying 'Oh My God'. I don't blame you, I found myself saying it quite a few times to myself last night after you left."  
  
"Stop," Rory snapped. She had to gather her thoughts, figure out what to say, what to do to fix it. Though she usually appreciated her mother's talent for constant banter, at this point it wasn't really helping her concentrate.  
  
"I'm sorry, have we forgotten again which one of us is the mother and which one's the daughter?" Lorelai asked defensively, standing up. Rory couldn't even look at her; she felt ashamed of herself suddenly, for lying, for putting herself in a potentially disastrous situation. It was worse than the time she'd missed Lorelai's graduation because of Jess. That time Lorelai eventually forgave her. But then again, that time, Rory hadn't lied.  
  
"Mom, I-I just need to think for a minute," Rory said, walking towards the kitchen, trying to get away, just for a moment. But Lorelai followed close behind.  
  
"Why?" Lorelai asked. "Need some time to think up another lie for me?"  
  
"Stop!!!" Rory yelled. She wasn't so much giving a command as she was pleading. She felt her chest constricting; everything had gotten out of control, all within just a few days. She just needed quiet. She needed space. Time to think. But Lorelai didn't understand that.  
  
"No," she said. "Rory, I won't stop. Do you not get it? I'm upset with you! More upset than I've been in a REALLY long time actually-I think this even tops that time that you spilt coffee on my favorite tee shirt, if you can even imagine that." Lorelai sighed. "You put yourself in danger and you lied to me." She paused. "Do you even have anything to say for yourself?"  
  
Rory paused for a moment, trying to choose her words carefully. "It's not like I was taking drugs or driving drunk or something. I didn't just deliberately put myself in immediate danger, mom. I mean, yeah-I slept with a boy-"  
  
"Not just any boy, Rory," Lorelai interrupted. "Jess. You slept with JESS."  
  
"Yeah, Jess, my boyfriend," Rory said. "What's wrong with that? I mean, we love each other. That's all that's supposed to matter, right?"  
  
"No," Lorelai said. "Not for you. For you, it has to be more than that. It has to be better."  
  
"Why?" Rory asked. "Why do the rules have to be different for me? Any other girl my age who was as responsible as I am, with a relationship as serious as this one would have been expected to do it months ago. But me? No, I have to be Susie Mc-Perfect-Daughter to make up for YOUR mistakes. What's fair about that?" Her voice had gotten louder. She'd never meant for it to; she'd never meant to say any of the words that were coming out of her mouth. She never wanted to hurt her mother. But now that she considered it... she wasn't saying anything that she really didn't mean. She just hadn't fully realized until that moment that she felt that way.  
  
Lorelai cringed. "Whoa," she muttered. "Low blow."  
  
"And it wasn't a low blow for you to say that Jess, the guy that I LOVE, isn't worthy of me?"  
  
"That wasn't a low blow, that was just true," Lorelai replied. "Jess isn't good enough for you. ESPECIALLY not good enough to be-your FIRST-"  
  
"What happened?" Rory asked confused. "A week ago, Jess was your hero! You and Sookie would swoon over him and every time you saw him in the diner, you'd tell him how great he was for making me happy. And now what? Just because he shattered the image of perfect little innocent Rory, he's the anti-Christ again?"  
  
"Yeah!" Lorelai said, nodding. "That's right. A week ago, Jess was pretty much my favorite guy on the planet. You were walking on air, you were happier than ever, and it was all thanks to him. But I didn't know then that he was going to be the guy who put you in that kind of danger! I didn't know that he was going to be the guy who ruined your chance at the future I didn't get to have! I didn't-I didn't know he was gonna get you pregnant, I-" Lorelai collapsed at the kitchen table, burying her face in her hands, trying to control her sobs. Hearing herself say it aloud, it was like a knife in the heart.  
  
Rory stayed where she was, a few feet away, stunned. She tried to hold back the tears welling in her eyes... whenever she saw her mother cry, she always felt like crying too. She hated seeing her upset. Worse than that, she hated being the reason that Lorelai cried.  
  
"I, uh..." she started in a soft, cautious voice, "I'm not pregnant, mom," she said. Lorelai didn't respond. All Rory could see was her hunched over figure shaking with sobs. She continued. "I took a pregnancy test last night at Lane's and it turns out it was just a false alarm."  
  
"Damnit," Rory heard her mother say through her tears. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" Lorelai didn't look up; she left her face in her hands. But she wasn't shaking as violently anymore. She was gaining control of herself.  
  
Rory sighed. "I don't know," she said. "I meant to, I just... I guess I got a little distracted with all the yelling and everything." Lorelai still didn't look up. Rory found that it made it easier to talk without her mother looking. As long as Lorelai didn't react, Rory had the chance to get everything she had to say out. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Mom," she said. "I didn't want to lie to you, I just... I didn't know how to say it. I was just scared you'd flip out, I guess, what with it being so close to graduation and all." She paused. "But we were safe, if it's any consolation," she offered. "Extra safe. I took the health class in school, I knew how to protect myself. I just freaked out, I don't know why I even thought it was possible for me to be pregnant." There was a long pause before Lorelai lifted her head. Her eyes were puffy, but Rory could feel the intensity of the gaze she gave her. It didn't seem like anger or sadness-just genuine concern.  
  
"Are you still mad?" Rory asked confused. Lorelai didn't answer. She just stood and pulled Rory close to her in a tight embrace. Rory hugged her back.  
  
"Rory, don't ever have a pregnancy scare ever again until you're 40 years old and married," Lorelai said, "cuz I don't think my blood pressure could take it."  
  
Rory smiled slightly. "Believe me, I'm not exactly anxious to relive this experience anytime soon."  
  
After a moment, Lorelai pulled back to wipe her eyes again. "So what do you say?" she asked. "Should we order some pizza and try to talk about this rationally? With no more crazy yelling or anything?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah. We should talk. And I'm not violently opposed to the pizza idea, either."  
  
Lorelai nodded and headed to the phone. Before she could dial, Rory interrupted.  
  
"Do you hate Jess now?"  
  
Lorelai sighed, turning back to her. "Honey... you gotta understand. As the mother of the teenage girl he could have impregnated, it's not only my right to hate him, it's pretty much my duty."  
  
"It wasn't just him," Rory said in his defense. "I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds like it was all his fault." She paused. "It wasn't. I had more than just a little to do with it."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "He didn't pressure you or anything, did he?" She asked. "Cuz if he did, you just say the word, and Mommy will buy a shot gun and kill him," she said with a sarcastically optimistic smile.  
  
Rory shook her head. "Nope. Zero pressure." She paused. "Almost the opposite of pressure. He was the perfect gentleman about the whole thing."  
  
Lorelai turned away quickly, busying herself with the menu. It was hard for her to picture Rory as the one initiating the whole thing. She sighed. "You want pepperoni or plain cheese?"  
  
"Mom, can we just finish with this one subject before we order the pizza?" Rory asked.  
  
Lorelai didn't put the phone down. She wanted desperately not to talk about Jess. "What subject? The fact that Jess didn't pressure you? Cuz I thought we had that pretty much covered."  
  
"Not that," Rory said. "Just the subject of Jess in general."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Rory, hon, I don't want to argue about this," she said.  
  
"Neither do I," Rory said. "I just want to discuss it. A discussion is very different from an argument."  
  
"Rory, I'm not gonna change my mind about this," Lorelai said. "I don't think Jess is good for you."  
  
"You don't think anybody's good enough for me," Rory said. "You even hated Dean at first. Most mothers would jump for joy if their daughters dated Dean."  
  
"I know," Lorelai said. "But I think Jess is extra, super-not-good-enough for you."  
  
"Why, because he has hormones?"  
  
"No, because he would rather have a good time for one night than ensure your chance to go to college and get the dream job you've wanted ever since you learned how to write, and have a life. Like a real LIFE."  
  
"Mom, I can still be with Jess, AND go to Yale, AND get the dream job, AND have a life."  
  
"I know," Lorelai said. "Just... don't ask me to like him just yet. I'm not gonna forbid you to see him, but I don't think I could handle having to pretend that he's my new best friend."  
  
Rory nodded. "I understand." She headed toward the living room. "Get half cheese, half pepperoni!" she called over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen. Lorelai sighed as she dialed the number for Pete's Pizza.  
  
***************************************************  
It was a long night. Lorelai and Rory stayed in the living room a long time, talking about anything they could, whether it was relevant or not. While it wasn't completely without awkward moments, both of them were just grateful to have the secret out in the open. Rory had told her mother that she wanted to go on the pill, and Lorelai had understood, and been more than happy to schedule an appointment with a doctor outside of Stars Hollow so that word wouldn't get around. In this town, even Doctor-Patient confidentiality wasn't to be trusted.  
  
Everything was great... or at least it seemed that way. Rory was glad she had talked to her mother... but the things Lorelai had said about Jess, and his not being good for Rory... they were really getting to her. At first it seemed completely ridiculous. He was good for her. He made her happy, happier than she'd ever been with Dean. He was a completely different person now from that guy who'd come to Stars Hollow the year before, stealing Babette's gnomes and smoking and drinking and mouthing off to the people who tried their hardest to like him. He couldn't be bad for her... could he?  
  
She'd never lied to anyone so much as she did after Jess came to town. She couldn't deny that. But it wasn't his fault, she was the one doing the lying... on his behalf. And she had never been so constantly preoccupied with Dean as she had been with Jess. Her grades weren't slipping or anything... but she'd been known to get caught daydreaming about him in class on several occasions.  
  
'This is ridiculous,' she thought to herself as she got out her books to start her homework. She knew he wasn't going to hurt her; everything would work out fine. She loved him and he loved her. Shouldn't that be enough?  
**********************************************************  
"Jess," Luke greeted him as Jess walked into the apartment, car keys in hand. "Where you been?"  
  
"Working," Jess replied, walking to his room and getting some money from the safe where he kept all his savings.  
  
"What, are you going out again now?" Luke asked.  
  
"I was planning on it," Jess replied.  
  
"Well stay a while," Luke commanded. "I got dinner. You gotta eat."  
  
"Most people do," Jess retorted.  
  
"Just sit down," Luke said with a sigh, taking a seat himself. Jess took a deep breath, trying to hold his tongue. There had been new rules since he came back to Stars Hollow at the beginning of last summer. He knew Luke wasn't likely to just send him off to New York on the bus if he got fed up with him-Luke wasn't that irrational... most of the time. But in any case, it was always better to be safe than sorry.  
  
He sat at the kitchen table across from Luke and started eating silently. Conversation didn't exactly come easy for the two of them.  
  
"So..." Luke started. "How was school?"  
  
"It was pointless," Jess answered.  
  
"Care to elaborate?"  
  
Jess sighed. "Two weeks before graduation, we accomplish nothing. Today in my English Lit class, we played bingo." He took a bite of his burger. "Did I paint a vivid enough picture for you?"  
  
Luke glared a little, eating his salad. 'Crazy health food nut,' Jess thought to himself.  
  
The phone rang to interrupt the overwhelming silence. Jess jumped up.  
  
"That's for me," Jess said.  
  
Luke stood, trying not to seem too eager to answer the phone. "No, Jess, I- I have a pretty good feeling that's for me."  
  
"Rory said she'd call tonight around 8," Jess replied. "It's after 8. Do the math."  
  
"Jess, just let me answer it!" Luke said.  
  
"Why?" Jess asked with a smirk. "Is Lorelai supposed to call you tonight?" Luke rolled his eyes. "If it's her, I'll just hand it over," Jess said, picking up the phone with a smile.  
  
"Rory, that better be you," he said into the phone. "Cuz I don't know if I want to be around listening to Luke talk to your mother and pretend he doesn't-"  
  
"Jess?" an all too familiar voice asked on the other end. Jess froze. "Jess, hon, is that you?"  
  
Jess paused, before commanding in a firm voice, "Don't ever call here again."  
  
He slammed the phone down before she had a chance to say anything, and then left it off the hook to keep her from calling again.  
  
Luke watched him cautiously, not sure whether or not he was about to erupt. "I tried to stop you from answering it," Luke offered.  
  
"Why was she calling here?" Jess asked angrily. "I thought you guys got everything over and done with when you went to New York last week?"  
  
"I thought we did too," Luke answered. "But some new stuff came up, she just started calling. I told her you probably didn't wanna talk to her, but she didn't listen, and she just kept calling-"  
  
"What the hell 'came up'?" Jess demanded. "What 'stuff'? No wait-don't tell me. She got an AA sponsor, and she broke it off with her drug dealer, and now she's a new woman and she's gotten to that step in her 12 step program where you need to get all the people you screwed over to forgive you, right?" Luke was silent. "Well, I guess she's just out of luck, cuz there are some things a son doesn't forgive a mother for." Jess grabbed his money and car keys and headed to the door. Luke's solemn voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.  
  
"Your Dad's back," Luke said.  
  
Jess froze, his hand on the doorknob, trying to maintain his composure. It was a long time before he could get out the words, "He's not my Dad. He may be my father, but he was NEVER my Dad."  
  
"That's what I told her," Luke said. "But just the same... the guy wants to see you. And he's apparently bugging the hell out of Liz to get you to come down there and see him. Otherwise, he's gonna come up here."  
  
"No," Jess said sternly, turning back to him. "He's not coming up here. Not if I have any say over it, he's not."  
  
"Jess," Luke began, "I know you're pretty resentful of this guy. I am too, I mean he just left my sister and my nephew without a word. Didn't exactly make a great impression on me. But what could it hurt to just... talk to the guy? Just once?"  
  
Jess shook his head. "I'm not voluntarily going down there to see either of them, and if either one of them comes up to Stars Hollow, I'm gonna skip town." He opened the door. "End of story," he said, walking out.  
  
Luke didn't bother to follow him. Usually it bothered him when Jess just ran off without telling him where he was going. But right now... Jess was pissed off. And Luke hardly blamed him.  
***************************************************************  
Jess walked straight out to the nearest pay phone by Gypsy's auto-repair shop. Angrily, he dialed Rory's cell phone number. After a few rings, Rory answered.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
He smiled a little. He was angry, but not at her. He didn't even wanna talk about what was going on. He just wanted to see her, and forget about this whole thing. "Hey, what are you doing?"  
  
Recognizing his voice, she tried her hardest to act as though nothing had changed. She didn't want to tell him just yet that her mother knew, that her mother also hated him, and that Rory herself was thinking.... Well, she was just having some doubts. "I'm just studying," she said.  
  
"Still?" he asked. "It's like 9. You're usually done hours before this."  
  
Rory sighed. "Yeah, well something came up," she said. "Something pretty time consuming. I just got started like half an hour ago."  
  
"So there's probably no chance you'd wanna do something tonight, huh?"  
  
"Sorry," she replied. "I'm pretty swamped."  
  
Jess paused. "Are you all right? You sound kinda weird."  
  
Rory tried her hardest to sound perky... or at the very least, normal. "I'm fine. Don't worry."  
  
Jess nodded, not sure if he really believed her or not. "Ok. We're still meeting tomorrow night, right?"  
  
"Tomorrow night?" she asked. "Sorry, I'm blanking, what were we supposed to do tomorrow night?"  
  
"After the grandparents dinner, we were gonna meet at that Café in Hartford, Joe's. Remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Rory said. "Uh actually, would you mind if we took a rain check on tomorrow night?"  
  
Jess sighed. "Yeah. Whatever."  
  
"We can meet there on Saturday night instead. How's that?"  
  
"It's fine," Jess said, halfheartedly. This relationship was like a roller coaster ride; twice a week, everything was perfect, and every other day, there was some weird unspoken problem.  
  
Rory sighed. "Call me Saturday when you get off work?"  
  
"Sure thing," he said. "Gotta go, see ya later." He hung up before she had a chance to say goodbye. He didn't mean to snap at her; it wasn't her fault, really. But he needed a distraction from this newly presented situation with his father, and she couldn't help. It was just frustrating. He went to his car and started the ignition. He didn't know where he was going to go; he just needed to get away for a while.  
*********************************************************************  
Emily Gilmore looked from her daughter to her granddaughter, and back again. Lorelai was pouring herself her third glass of wine. Rory was picking at her food, barely eating any. And neither one of them was talking. It was very unsettling, especially when Richard wasn't present to offer a distraction.  
  
"So, Rory," she tried to start conversation. "How does it feel to know that in 5 days, you'll be a high school graduate?"  
  
Rory smiled slightly. "It feels great."  
  
Emily's smile faded. She had expected Rory to continue, what with her talent for writing and public speech. "That's all?" Emily asked. "Just great?"  
  
Rory looked confused. "Well a little scary too. But it's mostly a positive feeling. The fear only makes up about two percent of my overall emotion at this point."  
  
Emily nodded understandingly, trying to look incredibly interested so that Rory would keep talking, but Rory just kept picking at the lamb chops on her plate. She looked to Lorelai, only to find her refilling her wine glass.  
  
"Don't you think you've had enough wine for the night, Lorelai?"  
  
"No," Lorelai replied bluntly as she took another long sip.  
  
Emily sighed. "Well I hope you're not planning on driving like this."  
  
"Well see mom," Lorelai explained, putting down her glass, "This is exactly why I had Rory, so that she could drive me home when I'm too intoxicated to walk in a straight line."  
  
Emily took a sip of her own drink. This tension was unbearable. Something was going on, she could tell. They were both unusually quiet. They were barely eating. It wasn't natural for world champion eaters like themselves who had quite a talent for babbling.  
  
Also, Rory looked incredibly uncomfortable. It was nothing you would notice unless you knew her well... but the look in her eyes indicated that a million thoughts were running through her head, and they weren't happy thoughts either.  
  
"Are you all right, Rory?" Emily asked. Rory looked up, faking a happy smile.  
  
"I'm fine, Grandma," she said halfheartedly.  
  
"Are you sure?" Emily asked. "You've barely touched your food."  
  
"No, I'm fine, really. I'm just not too hungry, I guess." Rory paused for a moment before putting down her fork. "Excuse me a minute. I need to use the bathroom." She stood and headed out into the hallway. Emily watched her go, before turning to Lorelai.  
  
"What's the matter with her?" she asked, confused.  
  
"I dunno, small bladder?" Lorelai guessed.  
  
"I don't mean her going to the bathroom," Emily said. "She's acting very strange Lorelai. As are you. Would you care to explain this all to me? Because it's all very unsettling."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "It's nothing, mom. We just... things have been a little awkward the past couple days. Rory and I had a fight."  
  
"A fight?"  
  
"That's what I said, isn't it?"  
  
"Don't be wise, Lorelai."  
  
"I'm not being wise!" Lorelai said. "I'm just checking! With this much alcohol in my system, it's very possible that the words I thought and the ones that actually came out of my mouth were very different."  
  
"Was it a big fight?"  
  
"Well yeah, I guess it was. Probably among our all time top 5 biggest fights."  
  
"Did you two make up?"  
  
"Yes, we did." Lorelai sighed. "But just because we're not yelling at each other anymore, it doesn't mean everything's peachy keen again."  
  
Emily thought a moment. "What did you two fight about?"  
  
Lorelai avoided her mother's eyes. "Nothing, really."  
  
"You had a huge fight about nothing?"  
  
"Well obviously it was SOMETHING-just nothing of importance, that's all."  
  
"It must be important."  
  
"Mom, please, just stop pushing this," Lorelai said, annoyed.  
  
"I just want to know what's going on. I have every right to know why the two of you are behaving so strangely-"  
  
"No you don't, mom!" Lorelai snapped. "You don't have every right to know. This isn't any of your business." Lorelai took a long sip of wine and stared at the table bitterly. Emily sat in silence, unable to come up with the right words. Fortunately, Lorelai spoke before she had to.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just a little on edge tonight, I didn't mean to be so harsh."  
  
Emily paused. "Well I suppose it's understandable to act this way when you've had as much wine as you have."  
  
"It's Jess," Lorelai said out of the blue. Emily listened carefully. It was rare for Lorelai to open up and voluntarily tell her about the problems in her life. When she did, it was only because she had no one else to tell; but Emily was grateful for it, just the same.  
  
"Rory's boyfriend?" Emily clarified.  
  
Lorelai nodded. "That very one." She sighed. "I've tried really hard to like this kid, and for a while, I actually did. But I just-I don't think he's good for Rory."  
  
"That's what you fought about?" Emily asked. "You don't think he's good for her, but she disagrees?"  
  
"In a nutshell, yeah," Lorelai said. "That's the basic gist of it."  
  
"Well personally, I think you're in the right here," Emily said. "Rory usually has good judgment. But not always. I don't think it's possible for a teenager to always use good judgment."  
  
"Well that's great that you agree with me, mom," Lorelai said, "But what am I supposed to do here?"  
  
"Forbid her to see him anymore," Emily said, as though it were the most obvious solution in the world.  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Gee thanks, Mrs. Capulet, that's fantastic advice."  
  
"Mrs. Capulet? What do you mean?"  
  
"No, it's just... Juliet Capulet. In Romeo and Juliet. Her parents forbid her to see him, which of course was irrational cuz then she killed herself and I was making a comment about how-never mind." Lorelai sighed. "I can't just forbid her to see him anymore, mom. I'm not that kind of mom."  
  
"Oh and I am?" Emily asked, somewhat offended.  
  
"Well, no offense mom, but have you ever stopped to wonder why our relationship is so much less pleasant than my relationship with Rory?"  
  
Emily sighed. "I suppose you have a point. But if you feel that Rory isn't using good judgment, you do need to use whatever means necessary to protect her."  
  
"I won't forbid her, mom," Lorelai said. "No matter how much I dislike him, she cares about him a lot. That wouldn't be fair to her." She started pouring herself some more wine. "But it still does sound pretty damn appealing."  
  
Rory, standing just out of their view in the hallway, sighed silently, trying to put on her happiest, unaffected facial expression before returning to the room. She'd overheard the whole thing, but she couldn't let on that she had. She had to pretend that her decision had been solely hers, or her mother would never offer her opinion again.  
************************************************************  
Lorelai was bored. Incredibly bored.  
  
She had ordered pizza, and eaten until she couldn't eat anymore. Then she'd scanned their video library for something to watch. After coming up empty handed, she'd channel surfed until her fingers got tired. She had nothing to do, and she couldn't go anywhere, because Rory had taken the car to go meet Jess somewhere.  
  
She couldn't walk to Luke's either. She'd felt too weird ever since she found out about Rory and Jess to even be in Luke's presence, let alone converse with him. She had it on pretty good authority that he didn't know yet, and she was pretty much okay with that. Luke was sort of like a father figure to Rory... right down to the insanely overprotective part. She didn't need him to be freaking out every time Rory so much as looked at a guy.  
  
The phone rang, and Lorelai leaped for it, immensely grateful for any distraction from the boredom.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Mom?" Rory's exasperated voice sounded distorted through her cell phone.  
  
"Rory!" Lorelai cried, ecstatic. "Thank God you called! I need your help. I'm thinking about walking over to the video store. Now, should we have some ogre-ish fun with Shrek, or should we Thelma and Louise it again?"  
  
"Mom...." Rory repeated, her voice shaky. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying.  
  
"Ok, honey, if it's that hard for you to choose, I can just rent them both," Lorelai said.  
  
"Mom, I need you to come get me."  
  
Lorelai panicked. "What? Why? I-Where are you? You're not in the hospital again, are you?"  
  
"No," Rory sighed. "I'm at that Café in Hartford. Joe's."  
  
"But don't you have the car with you?"  
  
"It won't start," Rory said. "I think our gas gage is broken. It's been saying the tank is half full for about two weeks now."  
  
"But isn't Jess there with you? Can't he drive you?"  
  
"He offered to, but I told him no, because it would too awkward, what with him hating my guts and all."  
  
Lorelai paused. "Wow. That was a level of nonsense that even I have not yet experienced. Try again please?"  
  
Rory sighed. "We just broke up."  
  
Lorelai didn't say a word.  
  
"Mom?" Rory asked in a meek voice. "Mom, say something."  
  
"Wow," Lorelai said.  
  
"Something slightly more substantial, place."  
  
"Well I'm kinda busy imagining scenarios in which it would be justifiable for me to kill Jess, and it's exhausting, so I'm really not ready to be forming sentences just yet."  
  
"Mom," Rory said, frustrated. She really needed some comforting words just then.  
  
"Hold on a sec," Lorelai said.  
  
"Mom, come on. You're really not helping here."  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Lorelai said. "What the hell happened? Things were going great-well actually things weren't going all that well, what with the pregnancy scare and the sex, but I mean-" she stopped short.  
  
"Mom? Mom, are you there?"  
  
"That little tool," Lorelai said, shaking her head.  
  
"What's wrong mom?" Rory asked, completely lost.  
  
"I cannot believe he used you like that."  
  
Rory sighed, knowing exactly what her mother was saying. "He did not use me for sex, mom."  
  
"Oh so it was just a coincidence that he broke up with you two weeks after you slept with him? Yeah, very likely."  
  
"Again, mom, you're not really helping much."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "I'm so sorry honey."  
  
Rory tried to blink away the tears welling in her eyes. "Thanks."  
  
"I'm gonna go borrow Sookie's car right now and come pick you up. And we'll pick up our best friends at the market on the way home."  
  
Rory smiled a little. "It'll be good to see Ben and Jerry again. It's been awhile."  
  
"I love you, hon," Lorelai said.  
  
"Love you too, Mom. Bye."  
  
Lorelai hung up, feeling like she'd just been hit by a ton of bricks. She didn't even know what to think. How could she have let this happen? How could she have just stood by and let her daughter fend for herself while that jerk just led her on like that?  
  
She paused, staring at the phone. She picked it up and dialed angrily, pacing the room to dispel some of her furious energy.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"I'm gonna kill him Luke," she said, not even telling him who 'him' was, or that she was the one speaking. "It will probably be really painful, too. I just thought I'd let you know that."  
  
"What? Lorelai--?"  
  
She hung up before he had a chance to finish. Grabbing her purse, she headed over to Sookie's.  
  
************************************************************  
  
A/N: Ok so first thing's first. I'm sorry it took SOOOOOOOOOOO long for this update, I've been extra-super-duper busy the past couple weeks (midterm stress, a zillion papers and tests, projects, etc.) but now I've got vacation for a couple weeks, so the rest should come easy to me. Ok, secondly, I know this sucks. They broke up, everything's falling apart (hence the name of the chapter), and it just seems like everything's doomed to end up icky and sad, but I promise, IT WILL GET BETTER. So don't stop reading. I haven't let you down yet, have I? Ok so next chapter, you get to find out about the actual break up-how it happened, where, why, etc. And there will be other stuff of course. If you are violently opposed to anything that seems to be going on, please let me know in a review (just don't be too harsh, please). And of course, even if you aren't violently opposed, review anyway!!!! Hehehe reviews give me a happy. All right. More comes soon!  
  
~Emaline  
  
P.s. per request of..... somebody, when the story is over, I will put at the end a fully credited list of all the songs I used and their artists. 


	11. Unbearable

Part 12  
  
Unbearable  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Well, I can't forget this evening  
  
And your face when you were leaving  
  
But I guess that's just the way the story goes  
  
You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows  
  
Yes, it shows  
  
Well, I can't forget tomorrow  
  
When I think of all my sorrow  
  
I had you there, but then I let you go.... ********************************************************  
  
Don't look at her.  
  
He kept saying it in his head, over and over again. Don't look at her.  
  
She was right outside, sitting in her car. Every once in a while he could feel her glance at him for a split second. But he just sat there, smoking his cigarette and drinking his soda, staring at his hands, at the clock, anywhere except at her.  
  
"You're smoking again?" She'd asked with horror when he'd walked to the vending machine and bought himself a pack. He hadn't said anything. He'd just told her to go.  
  
It would have been easier if she'd just left. But of course, that would have been just too perfect. No, her car had to break down. Now she was stuck there for a half an hour, waiting for her mother to pick her up.  
  
He'd seen her walk out there to her car, and only looking out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't understand why she stayed there for ten minutes. At first he'd thought she was crying, but when he stole a quick glance, he realized that wasn't the only reason. There were tears in her eyes, but he could see that the car wouldn't start.  
  
"Just let me drive you home," he'd said.  
  
"No," she'd said sharply. She wouldn't even look him in the eye.  
  
"Come on-"  
  
"I said no," she repeated, her voice shaking with tears.  
  
He sighed. "I'm not just gonna leave you here."  
  
"Why shouldn't you?" she asked. "I mean, don't you hate me now?"  
  
"Look," he said, his voice harsh. "You can try to be as catty to me as much as you want to be; you can tell me you don't want to see me anymore, that it's over, that I don't mean enough to you to jeopardize your future- whatever. But you can't make me hate you, so just give it a rest already. I may be a little pissed off that you just broke up with me because of your mother, but I'm not an ass hole."  
  
"It's not because of my mother," she said, trying to sound resolved, but she couldn't fool him. He could tell she didn't even believe the words coming out of her own mouth. "I told you, I don't want to risk ruining my life just to be with you-"  
  
"Oh please, Rory, you said it word for word just like your mother would have. You even used the "you're not good for me," phrase. That's 100 percent Lorelai, and you know it." He paused. She still wouldn't look at him. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. You say it's over, I'll deal. Just don't expect me to start treating you like dirt so you can feel justified in treating me the same way." He started walking back to the café. "I'm not leaving till Lorelai comes to get you."  
  
And now there he was. Sitting. Waiting. Trying his hardest not to look at her. It proved to be easier said than done.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Could it be any more awkward?  
  
There she was, sitting in her car, completely within his view. She had nothing to do except stare at her hands, and try not to let him see her crying, because then he would know she didn't really want to lose him. He would know she still loved him. And if he knew, she wouldn't be able to deny it anymore.  
  
He was smoking. He'd quit, since he'd been with her, but she'd driven him back to it. She kept glancing at him, but every momentary glance was like a stab in her heart. He looked... well, he looked the same way he had when he'd first arrived in Stars Hollow. He looked like he wasn't feeling anything. He looked cold, unaffected, completely hollow. She couldn't read him at all. She felt like a monster because it was all her fault.  
  
Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, she saw her mother drive Sookie's car up and park. They both got out of their cars and met in the middle with a hug.  
  
"Oh honey," Lorelai said sympathetically, rubbing her back, "I wish the 'let mommy kiss it and make it better' line still worked in these situations."  
  
Rory smiled a little. "Might not make it all better, but it couldn't hurt."  
  
Lorelai kissed her forehead, but pulled away, having a revelation. "Where is he?"  
  
"Inside somewhere," Rory said. "He said he wouldn't leave till I got a ride."  
  
Lorelai nodded, thoughts forming in her head. Rory could read them like an open book.  
  
"Mom, NO," she insisted.  
  
"No what?" Lorelai tried to play innocent. "I didn't say anything!"  
  
"Don't go in there after him," Rory said. "Please. Just-not NOW."  
  
Lorelai sighed. She knew she had to respect Rory's wishes. "Ok. I'll postpone the execution. No big deal." She put her arm around Rory's shoulders and started leading her to the car. "Let's go home."  
  
Once they got onto the highway, there was no avoiding the tense silence. Rory stared out the window, replaying the events of the night over and over again in her mind. Lorelai didn't know what to say; what could she say to make it better?  
  
"So..." Rory began, out of the blue. "Sookie didn't mind?"  
  
"That Jess broke up with you?" Lorelai asked, confused. "No, I wouldn't say that exactly. I believe the exact phrase she used was 'I'm gonna roast that kid like a turkey.'"  
  
Rory smirked a little. "I meant about borrowing her car."  
  
Lorelai nodded, catching on. "Oh. No she didn't mind." She eyed Rory, to see if she could read in her eyes whether she wanted to talk or not. "Are you gonna be ok, kid?" she asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'll be fine," she replied, obviously lying. "I mean hey, it had to happen sooner or later, right?"  
  
"Not this way, it didn't," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "Honey, it's ok if you don't want to handle this maturely. No matter how you look at it, it pretty much sucks. So you're completely entitled to be whiny and sobby and irrational; even unhygienic. Well, for a while at least. Cuz it just... it REALLY sucks."  
  
"You can say that again," Rory said softly.  
  
"I wish I knew what to say to make this better," Lorelai said. "I mean, what can I do?"  
  
"Mom..." Rory said, trying to figure out how to tell her what she didn't want to hear; that there was nothing anyone could do.  
  
"Does it help that I hate him?" Lorelai asked. "Cuz I could really bring the hatred up a few notches-"  
  
"Mom, don't hate him. It's not his fault."  
  
Lorelai's mouth dropped in disbelief. "Wow."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're kidding me, right?" Lorelai said.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Rory, of course it's his fault!" she cried. "It's completely his fault. Everything is his fault. It was his fault your arm broke, it was his fault you and Dean broke up-"  
  
"No, that was MY fault," Rory said.  
  
"Look!" Lorelai cried. "He's even brainwashed you into truly believing that he's innocent and you're the guilty one!"  
  
"Mom, please stop," Rory pleaded. "I just-I really don't wanna talk about this right now! All I wanna do is go home, and watch a stupid sad movie, and eat ice cream, and lie on the couch, and unplug the phone and just... try not to think about it."  
  
Lorelai was pained by the fact that she couldn't do anything. "Well we'll get pay per view," she offered. "Any movie you want. And I'll run out and get ice cream and massive amounts of chocolate for you, ok?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Ok. Thanks."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
The rest of the ride, they barely said another word. When they got home, Rory changed into her pajamas and got settled on the couch, channel surfing. Lorelai set out for Doose's market immediately. As she was scanning the freezer for some cookie dough ice cream, a voice sounded behind her.  
  
"Late night craving?"  
  
She turned to see a smiling Dean with a mop in hand. She smiled at him. "Hey Dean. Isn't it late for you to be working?"  
  
"I'm doing some extra work this week; I'm saving up to buy my mom a DVD player for her birthday."  
  
Lorelai's heart melted. How could Jess live with himself, having stolen Rory from a great guy like Dean? "That's really sweet of you."  
  
"It's no big deal," he said, trying to play it off humbly. "So is there an ice cream emergency?"  
  
"Oh," Lorelai looked at her cart with 4 cartons of Ben and Jerry's in it. "Yeah, Rory's having a pretty sucky night, so you know. Ben and Jerry to the rescue!"  
  
"Is she ok?" he asked.  
  
Lorelai smiled a little. "She will be."  
  
"Well tell her I say hey," he offered.  
  
"I sure will Dean. Bye." She headed to the cash register, but as she stood there, waiting for the boy at the register to give her the price, her eyes fell upon the light on at the diner. The diner was closed, but Luke was still down there, wiping down the table. Watching him, she felt her cheeks flush with anger. She paid for the ice cream quickly, and strode across the street to Luke's, furious. She knocked on the door and he opened it, obviously confused as to why he hadn't seen her in days, and why she had called him earlier to say she was going to kill 'him', whoever 'him' was.  
  
"Lorelai, what's going on? You look like you just came back from a dinner with your parents or something."  
  
"Luke, I'm warning you," she yelled. "Don't ever let him come near her again or I swear to God, I won't be able to control myself, and you just might find yourself trying to find a mortician who can disguise a severed head. You know, cuz I'm sure no one would wanna look in the casket at the funeral if his head was just rolling around in there--."  
  
"Ah, the mysterious 'him' again, huh?"  
  
"Don't say 'huh'," she said. "That's his trademark, the 'huh', and I really don't want to be reminded of him right now."  
  
"What?" Luke asked, catching on. "Are you talking about Jess?"  
  
"Yes, Einstein, way to catch on!"  
  
"Wait, hold on!" he said, completely lost. "What happened? What did Jess do?"  
  
"Well, Luke, Jess has done a lot in his life. Which deed in particular should I start off with? Oh I know, how about the way that he slept with my daughter?"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Lorelai said, chuckling. "Twice. Oh and I can't leave out the fact that he almost got her pregnant!" Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Yep, that's right," Lorelai continued. "Oh yeah, and here's the best one- now you might wanna sit down cuz this one's a whopper!"  
  
"Lorelai, what are you--?"  
  
"He just broke up with her, Luke." She let the words sink in, and watched his eyes go blank, before turning and heading for the door. But he wasn't about to let her go.  
  
"Hold it! You can't just drop a bombshell like that on me and then just leave-"  
  
"Is he here?" Lorelai asked, turning back. Luke had never seen her look so completely out of her mind with anger until that night.  
  
"No, he's not home yet, but just-I don't understand, how could this all have happened? And why didn't I know about any of this?"  
  
"Because you're YOU, Luke," Lorelai said, shaking her head at him. "You're just blissfully ignorant to everything that kid's really up to. I mean, I can't BELIEVE that I just stood by and watched the way you handled him, because I knew full well that it wasn't enough. I should've said something. I should've told you to watch him more, I should've told you that I knew he had problems-SERIOUS problems-"  
  
"Why did he break up with Rory?" Luke asked. "Just two days ago he was jumping to get the phone just because he thought it was her-" Luke stopped short. "Oh no..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Lorelai-there's been a huge misunderstanding. Jess-well, something happened the other day that really got to him. I dunno, maybe he and Rory fought about it, but whatever it was, you gotta believe me; he never meant to hurt her, he just-"  
  
"I don't give a damn what happened to him the other day!!!" Lorelai yelled. "I don't care if he found out he had a terminal disease and he only had two weeks left to live!!! All I know is I've got a heartbroken kid at home who is in so much pain, she can't even articulate it; all she can do is sit there and stare at her hands and try not to cry-and it's all Jess' fault!!! My daughter now officially knows what it's like to be used and disposed of, and it's all because of YOUR nephew." She glared at Luke. "I'm going home."  
  
Luke knew he couldn't say anything to keep her from leaving; he couldn't say anything to make it better. All he could do was watch her walk away, never once turning back. He stayed there, in the diner, long after she was out of sight, just trying to let it all sink in. By the time Jess' car pulled up in front of the diner, he had taken it all in... and he wasn't happy.  
  
Jess walked in, his eyes fixed on the ground. But Luke didn't even look up as he walked in. Jess was happy to be ignored; he just headed for the stairs to go to his room. But as he reached the counter, Luke spoke.  
  
"Jess!"  
  
He turned back, reluctantly. "Yeah?"  
  
"Come here a sec." Luke stood up, still not facing him. Jess sighed and walked over, taking his time.  
  
"What's the deal Lu-"  
  
Luke turned and punched him square in the jaw.  
  
"No need to explain yourself," Luke said. "I'm all caught up. Lorelai was kind enough to stop by a few minutes ago and tell me everything." He tossed his rag at Jess, but Jess didn't catch it. "You finish cleaning up. I'm going to bed. And make sure you ice that jaw before you go to bed." He turned without another word and headed up the stairs.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
He'd seemed really happy to see her.  
  
That was all she kept seeing in her mind; the way he smiled when she'd walked through the door into the café. That, and the way he'd leaned in to kiss her... and then the look on his face when she'd pushed him away.  
  
He knew right at that moment that she pushed him away what she was going to do. She could tell by the way he shook his head and looked at the ground that he knew.  
  
She didn't know what she was going to do. How was she going to tell Lane? How would she deal with her mother's endless questions? How would she handle being at Luke's and seeing him? Letting him serve her coffee?  
  
Graduation was in only a few days. How was she supposed to move on in a few days and be happy at her graduation?  
  
How was she supposed to even go into her room? It seemed like only a few days ago that she'd put up that framed photo of the two of them... but it wasn't the only evidence of their relationship in the room; not by a long shot. There were the books... she'd lent him so many of them, and he'd written in them with his completely recognizable handwriting. And there was that stupid little teddy bear she'd won at that winter carnival they went to together. There were the CDs he'd lent her, and the sex pistols tee shirt she had taken to sleeping in, and the complete works of Shakespeare she'd intended to give him as a gift after he graduated. She was so grateful she'd given him back the necklace he'd given her... it would have been too hard to have it, even if it were just lying around in her jewelry box.  
  
Lorelai had fallen asleep a half an hour ago next to her on the couch. They'd watched Moulin Rouge, and Lorelai had tried her best to distract Rory from her pain by repeatedly pointing out the hilariousness of Toulouse Latrec and the Narcoleptic Argentinean... it hadn't really worked, though. Eventually, after far too much sugar, Lorelai crashed and fell fast asleep. Rory put a blanket over her and left her to sleep on the couch, but she couldn't deal with going into her room. She was immensely grateful for the warm weather that allowed her to sit on the back porch comfortably. It was nice out; there was a cool breeze, but she didn't mind it. It was dark enough that she could see lots of stars... just like that night after the Chilton prom...  
  
"Just don't expect me to start treating you like dirt so you can feel justified in treating me the same way," he'd said. And she believed him. It would have been so much easier if he'd been furious; if he'd been a jerk about it, and if she could count on the fact that she'd see him around town within a few days with his arm draped over the shoulders of some Shane look- alike... but she couldn't. She knew he loved her... and it only made it that much harder not to love him back.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
I'm wasting my time, wasting my time  
  
I've been wasting my time  
  
My soul's a worn out road  
  
Where you've left a trail of reminders  
  
The sky forgets, turns black with pain  
  
But the rain remembers your face  
  
And the streets know your name  
  
I'm wasting my time, wasting my time  
  
I've been wasting my time  
  
She read his palm his heart and his head  
  
Were on the same life line  
  
I held one hand behind my back  
  
But the rain remembers your face  
  
And the streets know your name  
  
I'm wasting my time, wasting my time  
  
I've been wasting my time  
  
When I took him like a vow in the dark  
  
The future fell off me  
  
This pain is all I recognize  
  
But the rain remembers your face  
  
And the streets know your name  
  
I'm wasting my time, wasting my time  
  
I've been wasting my time...  
  
***********************************************  
  
It was Tuesday morning. Rory was graduating tomorrow. She was about to begin the next chapter of her life; ascend from one level of being to a higher one. She was right on track, and she was on her way to achieving her life long goals.  
  
And all she could think about was Jess.  
  
Monday, Lane had convinced her that if she went into the diner early enough and ate really quickly, she could leave before Jess even got out of bed. She'd caved and gone, but not because she really believed she wouldn't see him. Deep down, a little part of her wanted to see him-too see how he was doing. She kept imagining this little scene in her head; she would see him across the room, and immediately recognize his sorrow in his eyes. But without a word she would catch his eye, and send him a single reassuring smile that would say "you know I still love you". And he'd smile back, and forgive her for everything, and understand how things had to be.  
  
Yeah right.  
  
Firstly, he didn't even show that Monday morning. She and Lane had gone a little TOO early for him to even be stirring in bed; plus, Rory had been so nervous, she'd been completely unable to eat, and therefore she had no legitimate reason to stay. So, they'd left and waited at the bus stop.  
  
So that Tuesday morning, Rory had no real hopes of seeing him and having that picture perfect moment of understanding. She had come to realize that those things just don't happen in real life. Now, she only went into Luke's because she was already sick of having her mother try to cook her breakfast, and she REALLY needed some coffee after one too many sleepless nights.  
  
"What would you like your highness?" Lane asked. They'd agreed that Lane would do all the interacting with Luke at the Diner. Lorelai had told Rory that he knew everything, and it made both Rory and Luke more than a little uncomfortable. It was bad enough that he would probably try to treat her like a delicate flower because he knew she was hurting, but on top of that, he felt personally responsible for her sorrow. It was all just too much.  
  
"I can't really decide," Rory answered. "I'm in a pretty Danish-y mood, but a muffin also sounds good."  
  
"Ok, so you want both," Lane said. "You don't have to pretend to want just one." She smiled before turning and heading to the counter.  
  
Rory was glad that Lane at least was treating her like a normal person instead of someone who's best friend had just been killed or something. The conversation during which Rory had informed her of the recent events had been... well, pretty chaotic. Lane was extremely confused, having no reason to see any instability in Rory and Jess' relationship. But after a few minutes, she'd accepted it, and tried her hardest to be supportive. She'd even gone in and put all the stuff in Rory's room that reminded her of him in a box for her, so that Rory wouldn't have to go through the emotional turmoil of reminiscing.  
  
"Voila," Lane said, placing her load on the table. "One Danish, one blueberry muffin, a mug of coffee, AND a coffee to go-for the bus ride, of course."  
  
"God Bless you," Rory said gratefully, gulping down some coffee. "I'm gonna need this. It's gonna be one hell of a long day."  
  
Lane sat at the table with her. "So what time does the graduation ceremony start again?"  
  
"Two o'clock," Rory replied through a mouthful of muffin. "And once again, I would like to tell you how eternally grateful I am to you for coming to my graduation."  
  
"Hey, that's what best friends are for, right?" Lane smiled. "Well, that and at-home pedicures."  
  
"Don't forget hair coloring," Rory offered. "We've had our share of fun filled experiences with hair coloring. But that reminds me, have you figured out a way to explain to your mother why the bathroom smells like bleach yet?"  
  
Lane didn't answer. Her eyes were focused on the table.  
  
"Lane?" Rory asked. "Hello? Earth to Lane? What's going on?"  
  
"Rory, don't look behind you."  
  
"What? Why?" She remembered the only possible reason why, but a few moments too late. She'd already turned and caught a glimpse of him walking into the room.  
  
She looked at Lane in horror. "Oh my god."  
  
"I tried to warn you," Lane said. "I shouldn't have said not to look, because everybody knows that whenever you tell someone that, the first thing they'll do is look-"  
  
"What's with the bruise on his jaw?" Rory asked, concerned.  
  
"Hmm. I don't know." Lane stole a quick glance. "Ouch! That looks painful."  
  
"I didn't look long enough to be sure, but it looked purple to me," Rory whispered. "Was it purple?"  
  
"I'd call it a dark burgundy shade," Lane said. "Maybe with a hint of blue."  
  
"Ok, too graphic."  
  
"Got it. Sorry."  
  
Rory sighed, worried. "I wonder how he got it."  
  
"Well there are a lot of potential suspects around here," Lane said. "I mean, I bet I could find a motive for almost anybody in town. Could be your mother-"  
  
"Please. Like she'd risk ruining her manicure for something like that? No, if she were gonna do damage, she'd make it something permanent."  
  
"Like disfiguration?"  
  
"Well I was thinking more along the lines of vandalism, but yeah, I guess disfiguration works." Rory sighed. "Who do YOU think did it?"  
  
Lane looked again at Jess as he went about cleaning off the counter. "I'd say smart money's on Dean."  
  
"Dean!?" Rory asked. "Why would Dean do something like that?"  
  
"Rory, why WOULDN'T Dean do something like that?" Lane replied. "He's Dean. He's always been crazy about you, he always will be, even if it's not in a boyfriend sort of a way. Plus, he already isn't Jess' biggest fan-"  
  
"Wait, does Dean know what happened?"  
  
"I don't know if he knows the sorted details," Lane answered. "The where, the when, and most importantly, the why. But yeah, he's aware. He was giving Jess glares all day yesterday."  
  
Rory sighed. "I hope he's ok."  
  
"Who? Dean?"  
  
"No, not Dean," Rory answered. "I mean-generally, I don't wish him any harm, but unless Jess jaw just happens to be made of steel and it broke Dean's hand when he hit it, I'm pretty sure Dean's gonna be ok. I meant Jess." Rory took a long sip of coffee.  
  
"You want me to talk to him for you, don't you?" Lane read her thoughts exactly.  
  
"Have I mentioned that I love you?" Rory said, meekly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lane said. "Whatever. You gotta get going though. Your bus is pulling up."  
  
"Oh!" Rory jumped up, grabbing the coffee, and the half of the Danish she hadn't yet eaten. "Oh hey, Lane? Could you not make it obvious that you're talking to him on my behalf?"  
  
Lane nodded. "I'm already thinking of excuses to 'accidentally' run into him at his locker. I'm way ahead of you. Go to the bus."  
  
Rory rushed out the door and to her bus. Lane watched the bus drive away, and turned away from the window just in time to see Jess watching the bus go. After a moment of contemplation, she walked up to him at the counter.  
  
"Hey Jess," she said tentatively.  
  
He looked up confused, obviously thinking that Lane would be the last person in town to want to strike up friendly conversation with him. "Are you talking to me?"  
  
"Do you see anyone else around named Jess?"  
  
He sighed. "You want coffee or something?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
He poured her a cup.  
  
"So..." Lane tried to sound casual. "That's a pretty nasty bruise you got there."  
  
He nodded. "Wish I could say it looks worse than it feels, but then I'd just be blatantly lying."  
  
"So, uh... how'd you get it?"  
  
Jess sighed and lowered his voice. "Rory sent you over here to ask that, didn't she?"  
  
Lane tried her hardest not to be completely transparent. "No, she didn't. I was just-curious, that's all-"  
  
"Give it up," he said, with a slight chuckle. "You seem to be forgetting that I know her pretty damn well."  
  
"Right," Lane said. "That's true, isn't it?"  
  
He nodded, busying himself by refilling the salt shakers nearby.  
  
"So how did you get it?" Lane asked again.  
  
Jess sighed. "Luke."  
  
"Luke?" Lane asked, incredulous. "Luke PUNCHED you?"  
  
"Sure did," Jess answered. "What can I say? The guy needs anger management, or therapy or something-"  
  
"She was really worried, you know," Lane blurted out.  
  
Jess scratched his head, trying to hide his facial expression. "Yeah, I figured. That's like her."  
  
"Look," Lane began, "I know you're probably not happy with this current situation-especially not with that shiner on your jaw and all-but... tomorrow's her graduation. For Rory, a graduation is like one of the three best moments of her life. Ideally, she should be able to enjoy the day completely, with no distractions-"  
  
"But she's distracted because she thinks I hate her, right?" Jess said. "I figured as much."  
  
"You don't have to do anything if you don't want," Lane said. "But just know that if you were to let her know somehow that you don't hate her so that she could stop wasting all her time and energy worrying... well I would just be very grateful."  
  
"Duly noted," Jess replied. "Which doesn't mean I necessarily will."  
  
Lane nodded. "I understand. Just think about it." She took one last sip of coffee. "She really misses you," she said. Jess kept his eyes fixed on the salt shakers. "And if you wanted her to know that you felt the same way-I mean, that you missed her too, but if you didn't want to say it yourself... I could let her know. Subtly, of course. But I wouldn't mind mentioning it." she paused. "What do you say?"  
  
It was barely noticeable, but Jess nodded his head ever so slightly. Satisfied, Lane left him a generous tip before heading off to school.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
A/N: hey guys. So yeah... sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. The next chapter is gonna be Rory's graduation. Now I'm pleading with you! People were so mad that they broke up.... And I don't blame them, I would be too... if I hadn't made it happen-but the point is, I PROMISE it gets better. I solemnly swear on the life of Joey Ramone (and that's a very serious thing to swear upon) that you will be happy when it is over. As always, if you read and review, you are my god. I'll send you positive vibes as a reward!!!!! Hehee ok I gotta run. Love all u guys. Next chapter comes soon.  
  
~Emaline 


	12. New Horizons

Part 13  
  
New Horizons **********************************************  
  
I've been watching you and all you do  
  
For quite some time  
  
Knowing all the ins and outs of you  
  
I should've known what was on your mind  
  
All the world is spinning round and round  
  
Inside my head tonight  
  
And I will fall into the darkness  
  
And I fear I will never see the light...  
  
Cuz you won't let me in  
  
All that I wanted from you  
  
Was something you'd never do  
  
So let me in, oh please tonight  
  
Don't let this end tonight  
  
I'll fall...  
  
Through the light the darkness seems to be  
  
So very strong  
  
How does one alone against the world  
  
Find the strength to carry on?  
  
What happened to the way we used to love?  
  
It seemed as though life had just begun  
  
But now that love has come and gone to fade away  
  
Like the setting sun  
  
Cuz you won't let me in...  
  
***************************************************  
  
11:07 Am and 12 seconds. 13 seconds. 14. 15. 16.  
  
Rory stared at the clock in her room, contemplating whether or not she had time to do what she wanted to.  
  
Graduation started in 3 hours. She had to get there about half an hour early at least, so her mother was going to pick her up and take her to Chilton at about 12:45. That gave her about an hour and a half. She was already ready; she had on the new dress she and her mother had picked out for her graduation, and her hair was fixed, and her makeup on. Her mother was at the Inn, so she would never know if Rory left.  
  
Staring at herself in the mirror, she made up her mind. She had to do it now, or she'd never work up the nerve to do it again.  
  
She threw off her fancy, uncomfortable shoes and slipped into her regular old converse sneakers, not really caring that they looked ridiculous with her blue dress. She grabbed her house keys, a wrapped package, and ran out the door, never once letting herself stop to think for a second.  
  
She ran all the way to Stars Hollow High... which of course wasn't really that far, but it seemed like an eternity in her mind. Finally she found herself standing in front of the front doors. And it was then that she realized she'd reached a dead end. What did she do now? Go wandering the halls, peering through doors and looking in every classroom to find him?  
  
Just as she was about to turn back and head home, she caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. Turning to see where its origin was, she saw it wafting from behind the school. Her heart pounding, she walked around towards the back. As she'd expected, he was there; smoking a cigarette and kicking aimlessly at the gravel. He didn't even notice her until she spoke.  
  
"Cutting class?"  
  
He looked up at her, startled, not sure how to respond. Why was she there? She was supposed to graduate in a couple hours; she must have something better to do than stand around and talk to him.  
  
"Trust me, no one in that class is missing me." He directed his eyes back at the ground. He knew he wasn't supposed to be treating her like he used to; he was angry with her. But he knew that if he looked at her-really looked in her eyes-he wouldn't be able to keep up his trademark tough guy attitude. She said nothing, unsure of how she was supposed to begin. After a few moments, he broke the silence, still not looking at her. "What are you doing here?"  
  
She sighed. "I was bored."  
  
"And you wanted me to entertain you?"  
  
She took a few awkward steps toward him. "I just... I talked to Lane yesterday."  
  
Jess nodded. "Really? So did I."  
  
"She told me what happened to your jaw-I mean, she told me that Luke hit you."  
  
"Does this town have nothing better to talk about?" he dropped his cigarette in the dirt and stomped on it.  
  
"I felt horrible," she admitted. "I've felt pretty horrible ever since... well since-"  
  
"Since you dumped me?"  
  
She flinched a little at the harsh tone in his voice, but nodded slightly.  
  
"I guess I just came here to... well to say that I'm an idiot." She sighed. "A huge idiot. A colossal jerk. I can't even believe that I really let everyone believe that it was you who hurt me, when you've never done anything but just be the perfect boyfriend; I mean, you were so supportive of every crazy decision I ever made, you put up with my insane mood swings, and you-"  
  
"Save the speech," he said. "I was there, I remember."  
  
She paused. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't help much, I just... I wanted you to know that I feel so sorry, I haven't been able to think straight for days. And I don't expect you to forgive me just because I apologized. What I did-it doesn't even deserve forgiveness, and I wouldn't blame you if you decided never to speak to me again for the rest of my life... although, I really hope that won't be your decision." She took another step toward him. "But I also know that an apology isn't enough to merit forgiveness; you know, actions speak louder than words and all... so I-um... here." She handed him the wrapped package. He rolled his eyes.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
She smiled meekly. "The complete works of Shakespeare. It's not a big deal, I just got it about a month ago, and I was going to give it to you after you graduated. But I figured, hey, what the hell. Why not give it to you now?"  
  
He nodded and glanced at her quickly. "Thanks, I guess."  
  
She sighed. "Also, I wanted to let you know that I'm gonna tell everybody what really happened. It was completely unfair of me to let everyone think it was your fault, and-again, I'm a jerk for doing it. And I know it's a little late, now that Luke's already hit you and everything, but... hey better late than never, right? Plus, now you'll have a much better chance of living out the year, because my mother won't have any legitimate reason to kill you anymore." She chuckled nervously. He still didn't respond.  
  
"You feel better about yourself now?" he asked.  
  
She sighed. He was not about to forgive her anytime soon. "No," she said. "Not by a long shot. But this isn't about me feeling better about myself. This is about me trying to fix what I did. I'm just trying to make things right for you again. It's not about me, this is all about you." she sighed. "And I'm gonna do whatever I have to in the future to make it up to you. You just name it." She paused. "Ok, well I would stay and grovel some more, but I kind of have to go graduate from high school now, so... bye." She turned on her heel and started walking back to her house, as quickly as she could, dreading what she would have to tell Lorelai as soon as she got home.  
  
********************************************************************  
"Rory!!!" Lorelai called, closing the door behind her. "My little almost- graduate!!?? I'm home early!!"  
  
"Kitchen!!!" she heard Rory call. She headed in, but stopped short, seeing her daughter wearing an apron over her new dress.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked.  
  
"I baked," Rory said.  
  
"You baked?" She asked, skeptically. She wandered to the counter and picked up a cookie, examining the bottoms, expecting burns, but finding none. "All right, who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"  
  
Rory sighed. "It's me, mom."  
  
"I don't believe you, so you'll have to prove it's really you in there and not the spirit of someone crazy like Martha Stewart. Quick, who's president?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Mom, Martha Stewart may be a little wacky upstairs, but I'm pretty sure she'd know who the president is."  
  
"You have a point. But she wouldn't know... who shot Andy Warhol at the Factory?"  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Valerie Solanis."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because she wanted to shoot somebody else, but he wasn't home, so she shot Andy instead." Rory sighed. "That's easy."  
  
"Fine. Answer me THIS; What's my favorite ever musical movie?"  
  
"Yellow Submarine," Rory said. "Can you please stop? We're kind of on a schedule here."  
  
Lorelai chuckled. "Honey, WHY did you make chocolate chip cookies? And why NOW?"  
  
"Because you always have better reactions to things when there's a good amount of sugar in your system," Rory said meekly.  
  
Lorelai sat down slowly, her eyes suspicious. "Uh oh. I don't have a great feeling about this."  
  
Rory sighed. "I have something to tell you mom... but you're not gonna like it, so first, have a cookie."  
  
Lorelai took the cookie and bit into it. "Wow that's really good... you put extra sugar in this didn't you?"  
  
Rory smiled. "And extra chocolate chips."  
  
"I trained you well."  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok... so I have to say this now..."  
  
"Well considering the bombshells you dropped last week, I'd say unless you killed somebody, or ruined a pair of my shoes, it can't be worse than it already has been."  
  
Rory took a deep breath. "I sort of... lied to you. Again."  
  
"Oh boy," Lorelai said, preparing herself for the worst. "See, that's not a good habit to get into."  
  
Rory nodded. "I know... but I didn't completely lie. I just sort of... let you believe something that wasn't true." Rory looked at the ground. Her mother's eyes made her nervous. "Well see... it's like this. Jess didn't actually break up with me."  
  
"He didn't?" Lorelai asked, her eyes widening.  
  
"Well, not so much as I broke up with him," Rory added uneasily.  
  
Lorelai was silent. After a few moments, she reached for another cookie.  
  
"Say something," Rory asked. "The silence makes me nervous."  
  
"Oh boy," Lorelai repeated, taking a bite.  
  
"Oh boy you're mad at me? Or more like an 'Oh boy, too bad I can't kill Jess anymore'?"  
  
"More like an 'Oh boy, I don't even know what to think anymore.'" She paused. "That kind of an 'Oh Boy'."  
  
"Are you mad at me?"  
  
"Well... I wouldn't say mad." Lorelai paused. "I don't understand you, but I'm not really mad."  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok. I can deal with that."  
  
"Why?" Lorelai asked. "I thought you were happy with Jess?"  
  
"I was," Rory responded. "Mostly..."  
  
"So why didn't you tell me what really happened in the first place?"  
  
"I just didn't know how to explain it," Rory said. "But now, seeing the way everyone's treating him... I know I can't just let everyone believe it was his fault. It's not fair to him."  
  
"Damn straight it's not," Lorelai agreed. "Who've you told so far?"  
  
"Just you," Rory said. "Well... Lane's known all along. But you were the first one on my list. I'm gonna tell Luke after graduation."  
  
"Good plan," Lorelai agreed.  
  
Rory sat down at the table with her mother. "I feel so stupid."  
  
"Hey, don't feel stupid," Lorelai comforted her. "Especially not on the day that you're supposed to graduate from one of the best high schools in the country."  
  
Rory shook her head. "He's never gonna forgive me. Not that I blame him, but I just... I feel like a monster."  
  
"Well rest assured, cuz you obviously aren't," Lorelai said, trying to cheer her daughter up with her sense of humor. "You are far too petite, and you've got really great hair and fashion sense; plus, no offense, but you are really not good at scaring people."  
  
Rory smiled a little. "Thanks mom."  
  
"No problem. Now get your stuff, you gotta go graduate."  
  
Rory stood and headed to her room. "I'll be right out."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
"Look look look!!!" Lorelai whispered to Lane, who was seated next to her. "They got to her row!!!"  
  
"I know!!!" Lane gushed, squeezing Lorelai's hand. "I can see the back of her head. She looks really excited doesn't she?"  
  
"Sure does," Lorelai agreed.  
  
"How can you even tell?" Christopher asked, seated on the other side of Lorelai. "It's only the back of her head."  
  
"It's a mother daughter thing. I can just tell."  
  
Christopher chuckled and shook his head.  
  
Lorelai leaned over and snapped to catch Kirk's attention. "Hey Kirk! Take a picture of the back of Rory's head for me, would you?"  
  
"Well Lorelai, as a professional photographer, I should tell you that a picture of the back of her head probably would not be a good use of film, seeing as how-"  
  
"Kirk, you're the one that insisted on being hired as my photographer," Lorelai said. "Just take the picture, and maybe I'll tip you after the ceremony."  
  
"As you wish, Lorelai." He raised the camera to his eye and took the picture.  
  
"Oh look!!! Only two more kids before her!" Sookie said to Jackson.  
  
"Is she wearing good shoes Lorelai?" Emily asked. "Because I'd certainly hate for her to trip on the stairs on a day like today simply because you insisted on buying her platform shoes-"  
  
"Mom?" Lorelai said sweetly. "I love you. But please stop it, or we'll miss it!"  
  
Emily sighed, but couldn't help smiling. Rory was next.  
  
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," Headmaster Charleston said into the microphone. Lorelai, Christopher, Lane, Sookie, Jackson, Emily, Richard, and Kirk all stood to applaud as Rory walked up the stairs to the stage, received her diploma, shook Headmaster Charleston's hand, and smiled at all the people who'd come to see her.  
  
"Wow, she looks gorgeous, doesn't she?" Lorelai said to Christopher, grinning.  
  
"It must run in the family," Chris said, smiling at Lorelai. She smiled at him as he put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. Things may not have been patched up between them completely... but at moments like this, none of that even seemed to matter.  
  
The moment was over all too quickly, but as Rory walked back down the stairs towards her seat, Lorelai caught her eye, and mouthed to her, "Love you!"  
  
Rory grinned and mouthed back, "Love you, Mom."  
  
Lorelai grinned. "OK, Chris, Lane, tell me somebody brought tissues?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. Lane pulled some out of her pocket.  
  
"I planned ahead," she said, handing half to Lorelai, and the rest to Sookie, Emily and Kirk.  
  
"I'm just so proud," Kirk managed to say. "I'm all choked up."  
  
**********************************************  
  
It's funny how  
  
Even now  
  
You still support me after all the things that I've done  
  
You're so good to me  
  
Waiting patiently  
  
And isn't it sad that you still have to ask if I care?  
  
I never said I was perfect  
  
But I can take you away....  
  
I got down on myself  
  
Working too hard  
  
Driving myself to death  
  
Trying to beat out the faults in my head  
  
What a mess I've made  
  
Sure, we all make mistakes  
  
But they see me so large  
  
That they think I'm immune to the pain....  
  
Walk on shells tonight  
  
Can't do wrong tonight  
  
And you can't say a word cuz I need to know  
  
I'm praying for a miracle  
  
But I won't hold my breath...  
  
********************************************  
  
"Hey Gilmore!!!" Lorelai called, the grin on her face reaching from ear to ear.  
  
Rory turned, and ran to the crowd of people who'd come for her. She and her mother embraced each other, nearly toppling over. Seeing Lane nearby, Rory grabbed her and pulled her into the hug as well, all three of them insane with happiness, and completely giddy.  
  
"Oh what the hell," Kirk said. "Group hug!"  
  
He wrapped his arms around all three of them. No one else joined in... none of them were quite sure how they felt about hugging Kirk.  
  
"You did it, babe," Lorelai said, leaning back and smiling at her daughter. "The sky's the limit now."  
  
"Yeah," Lane agreed. "Only 4 more years of insane hard work, and then you'll be out in the world, doing more insane hard work to get a job doing even more insane hard work. Congratulations!"  
  
Rory chuckled. "Thanks for the optimism, Lane."  
  
"My pleasure."  
  
Rory spotted her father, carrying her baby sister, Gigi.  
  
"Hey you made it!" She said, hugging him, and gently playing with Gigi's tiny hand.  
  
"Are you kidding?" he said. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. And neither would Gigi."  
  
"I'm so sorry Sherry's sick," Rory said.  
  
"Yeah well so was she," Chris replied. "She sent me on a crazy shopping spree to get gifts to make up for it."  
  
"Oh no," Lorelai said. "Did she make you buy lots of green clothing?"  
  
"What?" Chris asked confused.  
  
"Oh didn't you know?" Lorelai said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Green's the new pink."  
  
Chris shook his head. "She gave me a list, but I took the liberty of purchasing some things that I knew you'd like better."  
  
"Such as?" Rory asked curiously.  
  
"Hey, it's a surprise," he said slyly. "But let me tell you, there is a surprising amount of Clash memorabilia out there that's going to look real good showcased in your room."  
  
Rory's eyes widened. "You didn't!!!"  
  
"My lips are sealed." He laughed. "The presents are in the trunk of my car, I'll give them to you when we get back to Stars Hollow."  
  
Rory kissed his cheek. "You're the best!"  
  
"No, no, I definitely come in 2nd, at best," he said, eyeing Lorelai meaningfully.  
  
Rory sighed. "All right. I've got to take this thing off," she said, unbuttoning her gown.  
  
"Wait just a minute," Richard said. "Let's just get a picture of the Gilmore clan and their newest graduate first." He smiled at her, with obvious pride in her eyes.  
  
"Of course, Grandpa," Rory said. She, Lorelai, Emily and Richard all stood together.  
  
"All right everybody," Kirk said. "Smile."  
  
***************************************  
  
"I'll meet you at the car soon, Mom," Rory called, as she headed back to the crowd of students and their families and friends. Spotting Paris, she made her way through the crowd towards her.  
  
"Hey Paris," she said, smiling.  
  
"Rory," Paris said, keeping her cool. "Congratulations."  
  
"You too," Rory said. "Your valedictorian speech was great."  
  
"Really? You didn't think the Hitler quote was too unsettling? You know, what with it being Hitler and all?"  
  
Rory smiled. "I think most people understood that it was the quote that was important, not who said it."  
  
Paris nodded, satisfied. "Well good." She paused. "So are you going back to your little town for a graduation hoedown or something?"  
  
"Basically," Rory said. "There won't be any barnyard animals or hay involved, but since Miss Patty and Babette and Kirk are coming, you can't rule out the possibility of square dancing." Paris snickered. "What about you?" Rory asked. "You doing anything special or celebratory?"  
  
Paris smiled. "Yeah. Brian and I are going out to dinner with our families."  
  
"That's great," Rory said. "I hope you have fun."  
  
"Thank you. You too." Paris paused, awkwardly, before asking bluntly, "Rory are we friends?"  
  
"I'm sorry, what?" Rory asked, slightly taken aback.  
  
"Are we friends?" Paris repeated. "Ever since that fight we had over Francie, we haven't exactly been buddy-buddy all the time, but after some consideration, I realized that we do spend a considerable amount of time together, and most of it has been pleasant lately."  
  
"That's true," Rory said. "So yeah. I guess it would be safe to consider our relationship a friendly one. As long as you don't try to stab me in a fencing match again anytime soon."  
  
"I don't plan on it."  
  
"Good to know."  
  
Paris sighed. "So what now? We just part our separate ways and plan to see each other at our ten year reunion?"  
  
Rory laughed. "No, we should keep in touch. Princeton isn't that far away from Yale. Besides, both our families will be here. You're bound to come back to Connecticut eventually, right?"  
  
"Well I suppose that's true," Paris said. "All right. So it's a plan. We'll keep in touch."  
  
"Yeah sure. Email me your phone number or something."  
  
"All right. So that's settled. Good." She offered Rory her hand to shake. Rory chuckled. "What's funny?" Paris asked.  
  
"You're kidding me right?" Rory asked. "Call me crazy, Paris, but most friends don't shake hands. At least not ones who aren't holding political offices."  
  
"So what are you suggesting we do? Hug?"  
  
"It wouldn't be altogether unheard of for friends to do that," Rory said.  
  
Paris thought for a moment. "Ok. It sounds reasonable." She lifted her arms awkwardly, but Rory laughed and took the responsibility of initiating the hug.  
  
"Well," Paris said after they pulled away. "That wasn't so bad."  
  
"Nope," Rory agreed.  
  
"You know, Louise is having a post graduation party at her house in a couple weeks," Paris said. "Brian and I are thinking about going. You could bring Jess if you wanted to."  
  
"Oh," Rory said, looking at the ground. "We're actually still broken up."  
  
"Oh," Paris said, confused. "Sorry. I guess I just assumed you worked it out, you know, since he's here and all."  
  
Rory's heart jumped. "He what?"  
  
"Yeah," Paris said. "He's right over there, looking at us. You didn't know he was here?"  
  
Rory turned and saw him standing by the table of refreshments, looking incredibly uncomfortable in the fancy setting. She turned back.  
  
"I'm sorry, Paris, I really gotta go. But, um... congratulations again, and I'll see you soon, ok?"  
  
"Ok. Bye."  
  
Rory turned and walked toward him, her every step feeling uneasy. Her heart was beating so rapidly, she almost thought she could hear it. Why was he there? On the optimistic side, he could have decided to forgive her. But then again... she couldn't see why he would. He still didn't exactly look happy.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked, walking over to him.  
  
"Nice to see you too," he said with a slight chuckle.  
  
"I didn't mean to-I just-what are you doing here?"  
  
He shrugged. "It's not like I had anything better to do today."  
  
"But you-I mean, I don't underst-I mean..." she sighed. "I'm glad you came."  
  
He nodded slightly, kicking a little at the grass to busy himself. "I don't really know why I came," he said under his breath. "I just... I dunno, I figured maybe-just maybe-- someday I'd forgive you, and we wouldn't be estranged anymore-I mean what the hell, we might even be friends or something. And if we were... you know, I would probably regret not coming to see you graduate, so... here I am."  
  
Rory smiled a little. "I can't believe you came all the way out here."  
  
He tried to play it off humbly. "It's a half an hour drive. No big deal." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little box. "Here."  
  
"What's this?" Rory asked.  
  
"I know you gave it back to me," he said, as she opened the box and pulled out the necklace he'd given to her on prom night. "But it's not like I have any use for it or anything. Besides, it was a gift. You should keep it."  
  
Rory tried to hold back the tears welling in her eyes. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem," he muttered, avoiding her eyes. "But I uh... I should tell you..." he trailed off.  
  
"Tell me what?" Rory asked, hoping in vain that he was about to tell her she was forgiven.  
  
He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "I'm leaving."  
  
Rory's heart sank. "Leaving where?"  
  
"I'm leaving Stars Hollow," he said.  
  
"For where?" Rory asked, her voice shaky.  
  
"New York," he answered. "I'm gonna go see my father."  
  
"Your father?" Rory asked, incredulous. She couldn't even grasp this onslaught of new information. "When did this happen?"  
  
"Just in the last week or so," he said. "I didn't really wanna go at first, but... after a while I figured I might as well give it a shot, ya' know?"  
  
Rory nodded a little, biting her lip. "Mmm hmm..." she took a deep breath. "When are you leaving?"  
  
"Friday night after graduation," he said. He knew now how much she was hurting. She couldn't even disguise the tears running down her cheeks anymore, so he looked away. It was way too hard to see her cry.  
  
Rory tried to dig up her last shred of strength to ask her last question; the question to which she most dreaded the answer.  
  
"You think you'll ever come back?"  
  
Jess sighed. "Don't know."  
  
Rory nodded, the tears coming uncontrollably now. Not thinking, she stepped toward him and hugged him. He didn't understand at first, but after a moment, he sighed, and placed a comforting hand on her back, unsure of what else to say.  
  
She stepped back, avoiding his eyes. "I have to go," she said. "Good luck in New York." She turned on her heel and started walking away.  
  
"Rory," he called after her, hoping there was something he could say to make her feel even just a little better.  
  
"Thanks for coming, Bye," she said, not even turning back. She ran into the building to find a bathroom where she could dry her tears before returning to her mother's car.  
  
Jess wanted to follow her, but he knew he shouldn't. It was easier for both of them this way. With a sigh, he turned and headed back to the parking lot.  
  
***************************************************  
  
They say time will  
  
Make all this go away  
  
But it's time that has taken my tomorrows  
  
And turned them into yesterdays  
  
And once again you my friend  
  
Are nowhere to be found  
  
And it's so hard to do  
  
And so easy to stay  
  
But sometimes  
  
Sometimes you just have to walk away...  
  
*******************************************************  
  
The party was fantastic. Despite her heartbreaking thoughts about the conversation she'd had with Jess earlier in the day, she managed to put her sadness on hold for a while and enjoy the time spent with her family and friends. Almost the whole town showed up to celebrate on their front lawn. Dave offered to be the DJ, and Rory of course obliged and let him, knowing him to have as good taste in music as Lane did. Kirk of course took an incessant amount of pictures, and Miss Patty danced the whole night with Babette. Sookie made an insane amount of delicious food, and Lorelai of course went crazy with decorations. There was a huge pile of graduation gifts for Rory on the porch, which she planned to open after the party. It was picture perfect. But Rory still dragged Lane inside to her room to talk.  
  
"I don't believe this!" she said, pacing the room. "I mean that's so like him. Just run away as soon as things get not so comfortable. Coward."  
  
Lane tried to offer some rationality. "Rory how could you expect him not to go? You were the only real friend he ever made in Stars Hollow. Now you go and break his heart, and turn Luke, as well as everyone else against him, and you expect him to stick around?"  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok fine. I guess you're right. He doesn't have any real reason to stay." She sat next to Lane on the bed. "But I want him to stay. I'm selfish like that. So shoot me."  
  
"You guys are barely even speaking," Lane said. "Why should he stay?"  
  
Rory was silent.  
  
"Rory," Lane began, "I know you're having second thoughts. But this is not the time to be your trademark self. You don't have time to think this through and make pro and con lists and check to make sure everyone's gonna be ok with your decision. He's going to leave in two days if you don't give him a reason to stay NOW."  
  
Rory sighed. "I know. You're right. But it's easier said than done."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
"I come bearing Ice," Lorelai heard him say. She turned and saw Luke walking up to her with a huge bag of ice, and a wrapped present in the other hand. She smiled timidly.  
  
"You came," she said.  
  
"Yeah well you know... I've known Rory most of her life," he said. "I kinda feel like... you know-"  
  
"Family?" Lorelai offered.  
  
"Well I was gonna say a close friend," he said.  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Well, she thinks of you as family," she said. Luke smiled a little, trying to hide how touched he was at the thought. "Here," Lorelai said, taking the ice and placing it with the other bags. "Thanks for that."  
  
"Oh, no problem. You can never have enough ice at a party."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Very true." She smiled, looking at the wrapped package. "That's really thoughtful of you."  
  
"Oh it's nothing," he said humbly. "Just... you know, a few books I thought she might like."  
  
"She'll love them," Lorelai assured him. "So uh... long time no see, huh?"  
  
Luke nodded. "You haven't been to the diner."  
  
"I was furious at the boy," she said with a chuckle. "I didn't wanna start a scene."  
  
Luke sighed. "Rory stopped by the diner after graduation-just for a minute- "  
  
"She told me she was going to," Lorelai said. "So I'm assuming she told you- -?"  
  
"About the break up," Luke finished for her. "Yeah, she did. I feel like a pretty big jerk for hitting the kid."  
  
"Hey, you know what they say. Whatever doesn't kill him will just make him stronger."  
  
"Yeah or make him hate me," Luke said.  
  
"He'll forgive you eventually."  
  
"Maybe, maybe not," Luke said. "He's going back to New York, so it'll probably be sooner rather than later, if at all."  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Wow. He's really leaving?"  
  
"Yeah, on Friday. He doesn't really have much of a reason to stay, you know, since-"  
  
"Yeah, I know," Lorelai said. "hey, Luke I'm really sorry about the other night-"  
  
"Oh don't mention it," he said.  
  
"No, I feel awful. I was just... really mad, and really irrational, and I was jumping to conclusions... and I just hope things with you and I can get back to normal. You know, if you don't hate me like you did last time we fought about Jess."  
  
Luke smiled a little. "I don't hate you. so yeah, things can just get back to normal, I guess."  
  
Lorelai smiled, gratefully. "Good." She paused. "You gonna stay for the party?"  
  
"Well, I wasn't really planning on-"  
  
"Oh come on," she urged him. "It'll be fun. Miss Patty says she's gonna start a conga line soon, and you don't wanna miss that, do you?"  
  
He chuckled a little. "I guess I can stay a while, sure."  
  
"Great!" Lorelai said, enthusiastically. "You can put the gift on the porch with the others, and help yourself to Sookie's amazing food, make yourself at home."  
  
Luke smiled and headed to the porch, but Lorelai's voice stopped him.  
  
"Can we still have our movie night?"  
  
He turned back to her. "I gotta see Jess off on Friday night-"  
  
"I know," Lorelai said. "But we could do it some other night. Minority Report will still be around next weekend, right?"  
  
He smiled. "Sure. We'll just reschedule."  
  
"Great," Lorelai said. "I look forward to it."  
  
***************************************************************  
  
A/N: see? things are sort of looking up, right? well sort of... ok guys. Only one more chapter left to write, and it's gonna have to be a long one because I have a lot of loose ends to tie up. But I promise, even if it takes a while, I SHALL NOT DISAPPOINT MY READERS!!!! So hold on, guys, I promise it'll be worth the wait. I love you guys. Don't give up hope. I won't break my happy ending promise. 


	13. Happy

Part 14  
  
Happy  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Welcome to the planet, Welcome to existence  
  
Everyone's here, everyone's here  
  
Everybody's watching you now  
  
Everybody waits for you now  
  
What happens next? What happens next?  
  
I dare you to run, I dare you to run  
  
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
  
I dare you to run, I dare you to run  
  
Like today never happened  
  
Today never happened before  
  
Welcome to the fallout, Welcome to resistance  
  
The tension is here, the tension is here  
  
Between who you are and who you could be  
  
Between how it is and how it should be  
  
I dare you to run, I dare you to run  
  
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
  
I dare you to run, I dare you to run  
  
Like today never happened, Today never happened  
  
Maybe redemption has stories to tell  
  
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell  
  
Where can you run to escape from yourself?  
  
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?  
  
Salvation is here  
  
I dare you to run...  
  
**********************************************  
  
"It's 11:30," Luke said, seeing Lorelai enter the diner. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"  
  
"Early lunch break. I had to get out of there. Ugh," Lorelai said, collapsing onto a stool by the counter. "I'm never gonna find love."  
  
"Haven't we had this conversation already?" Luke asked, starting to make some coffee for her.  
  
"Well now I'm even more convinced than last time," Lorelai said.  
  
"What is it now?"  
  
"Sookie and Jackson," she said. "They just got back from their appointment with 'Baby's Doctor', as they call it. They got a picture of the baby, and they won't stop gushing over it!"  
  
"Sookie's your best friend," Luke said. "Shouldn't you be happy for her?"  
  
"I am!!" Lorelai exclaimed. "But I can only take so much of the baby talk... dear god, the baby talk..."  
  
Luke snickered. "What do want to eat?"  
  
"A big fat greasy burger and fries please?"  
  
Luke shook his head. "Someday I'm gonna make you eat a salad."  
  
"And on that day I will stage a revolt, because that is simply inhumane."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Death by heart attack on a plate, coming right up."  
  
"And don't forget the French fries!!!" Lorelai called as he went to give Caesar her order.  
  
It was Thursday morning, and Lorelai was still worn out from the long party the night before. Rory seemed to have had a good time, and she'd even convinced her father to spend the night and head back to Boston the next day, so Lorelai was glad. She'd tried to talk to her after everyone went home and see how Rory felt about Jess' leaving, but Rory didn't seem to want to talk about it, so she had backed off.  
  
But she still felt uneasy about the whole situation. There was something weird about Jess just up and leaving like this. It was so unresolved. On the one hand, she figured it would be better for both of them in the end. They'd both be able to move on more easily.  
  
On the other hand, though, it could just be an easy out for both of them. Lorelai knew better than anyone that running away from one's problems and pain instead of dealing with them was never a good idea. She didn't want Rory to wake up one morning in 6 months and realize she was still heartbroken.  
  
"Here's your burger," Luke said, handing her the plate.  
  
"God bless you good man," she said with a grin before taking a bite. "So um... where's Jess?"  
  
"At school," Luke said.  
  
"Oh right," Lorelai chuckled a little. "Duh. I mean it's 11:30, of course he's at school." She paused. "Is he all packed?"  
  
"He started yesterday," Luke said, "and he's gonna pack some more tonight. But I'm gonna send most of his stuff over there after he's gone."  
  
"Oh yeah," Lorelai nodded. "That would make sense." She sighed. "Is he all right?"  
  
"He's dealing," Luke said. "He's not exactly skipping through fields of wild flowers, but... he's gonna be ok." He paused. "How about Rory?"  
  
Lorelai smiled a little. "She's doing an impressively good job of pretending she's good. But I know better." Lorelai sighed. "See this is why I'm so pessimistic about my future love life. Even if I do eventually find love, who's to say it's not gonna end horribly, with both of us miserable and worse off than we were before we met?"  
  
"Not all love is doomed to end with misery," Luke said. "Ask some people who've been married a few decades. They'll tell you."  
  
Lorelai took a long sip of coffee. "I want that," she said. "I want a marriage. Something stable, something I can count on, you know?"  
  
"Well, marriages aren't always perfect," Luke said. "I mean haven't you ever heard of divorce?"  
  
"Oh come on, Luke, make up your mind. One minute you're Marriage's biggest fan, and now you're putting it down? Pick one side and stick to it!"  
  
Luke sighed. "Fine," he grunted. "Marriage is generally a good thing. GENERALLY."  
  
"That's the spirit," Lorelai said. She chuckled a little," Hey, I have a kind of a wacky idea."  
  
"You say it like this isn't always the case," Luke said.  
  
"Stop being such a sour sport and listen to my crazy idea," Lorelai commanded. "Ok. You know how sometimes, kids who are friends make those pacts that are like 'if neither of us is married by the time we're 35, we'll marry each other'?"  
  
"Yeah," Luke said. "What's your point?"  
  
"Why don't we do that?" Lorelai suggested.  
  
"Lorelai, you ARE 35," Luke said. "And I'm a little too busy to get married this week."  
  
"Well we can change the year," Lorelai said. "So it'll be like a VERY last resort, obviously. Like, let's just agree to get married if neither of us has found someone by the time we're 45?" Luke still looked skeptical. "Oh come on," Lorelai whined. "We're both very attractive people, you and I. Chances are slim to none that we'll both be alone and miserable in ten years." She offered her hand. "Come on, just shake my hand, we'll make it official."  
  
Luke made no move for her hand. "What if we drive each other crazy?"  
  
"Wouldn't be anything new for us," Lorelai said. "Ok fine, how about this. When you come over for our movie night, we'll make it a trial run. You know, no crazy married couple stuff like kissing or talking about taxes or arguing about whose family we get stuck with for the holidays, but just normal stuff. Spending an evening together without any homicides or suicides." She sighed. "If it goes horribly awry, we'll just call the whole thing off, ok?"  
  
Luke shook his head with a slight smirk. "Fine. Just don't expect me to bring you flowers or anything."  
  
"Now there's something a girl loves to hear after she's asked a guy to marry her," Lorelai called as Luke walked into the back.  
  
**************************************************  
  
"How many cups have you had?" Luke asked.  
  
"Hmm," Rory contemplated, her leg jittering. "I don't know. Lost count after 4."  
  
Luke shook his head. "All right," he said. "That's it. I'm cutting you off."  
  
"Come on Luke," Lane pleaded with him. "She graduated yesterday. Consider it a token of apology for not coming to the ceremony."  
  
Luke sighed and started pouring, reluctantly. "It's not fair when you both gang up on me like that."  
  
"Yeah well life's not fair," Rory said, picking up the cup. "Thanks for this."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Luke said. "Seriously though. No more." He walked back to the counter.  
  
"Ok Rory," Lane said quietly. "You're really worrying me here. We've been here for almost 2 hours. You've had 6 cups of coffee, and you're eyes are glazed over. Seriously. You haven't blinked in at least 3 minutes."  
  
"It's the caffeine," Rory said. "I don't think I've ever had this much in such a short period of time before." She took another gulp.  
  
"Postponing this isn't gonna make it easier," Lane reasoned with her. "And I don't think the caffeine overload is gonna help much either."  
  
"I don't wanna do it," Rory whined. "I'm scared."  
  
"He's not gonna bite you," Lane said.  
  
"How do you know? You don't even know him that well."  
  
"Well he's never mentioned any deep admiration for Mike Tyson, so I think it's safe to rule out vicious biting as a reaction." She paused. "Come on, Rory. You said you wanted to say goodbye to him for real. If you don't do it now, you'll chicken out tomorrow, and then he'll just leave-"  
  
"No," Rory insisted, standing up, suddenly determined. "I'm not gonna do it." She took one last gulp of coffee. "I'm going up." She strode away from the table towards the stairs to Luke and Jess' apartment.  
  
"Luke," Rory said loudly as she walked past the counter without so much as pausing, "I'm going upstairs!!!"  
  
"Um.... Ok?" Luke said, confused, watching her disappear behind the curtain.  
  
Her heart was beating so fast because of all the caffeine, she couldn't stop. She didn't even think; she was just acting on instinct now.  
  
She burst the door open, and Jess looked up from his packing, confused.  
  
"Rory?" He asked. She didn't look up in acknowledgement. She walked straight over to him and his suitcase and started taking items of clothing and books out, putting them back in his dresser and back on his bookshelf.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.  
  
"You're not leaving," she said, resolved, still not looking up from the task at hand.  
  
"Oh come on, cut it out," he said, putting the books and things back in the suitcase.  
  
"No!" She refused.  
  
"What is the matter with you?" he asked. She wasn't acting like herself.  
  
"I don't want you to leave," she said, finally stopping and establishing eye contact with him.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know how many other ways I can say it," she said. "But I'm not going to let you leave. I- I- I'll sabotage your car or something so it won't start!!!" she threatened.  
  
"Yeah and I'm sure with all your great knowledge of cars, that'll work out great," he said.  
  
"Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!" she whined.  
  
"Why? You're sure acting it."  
  
"I'm serious though," she said. "I don't want you to leave. Yeah, maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't care!!! I want you to stay here in Stars Hollow; I want you to blow off your father and your mother-I mean you hate them anyway, right? So start acting like it! Don't go to New York!!!"  
  
"Rory, come on-"  
  
"No, don't try to reason with me!!!" she yelled. "I made up my mind, I'm going to keep you here, no matter what it takes. If I have to lock you up in our basement, I'll do it, no problem-"  
  
"Are you drunk or something?" he asked, incredulous.  
  
"No!" she said. "Just a little hyped up on caffeine, that's all."  
  
He sighed and shook his head. "That explains it."  
  
"Explains what?" she asked. "The caffeine has nothing to do with it! I would still be doing this right now, even if weren't for my having consumed 6 cups of coffee downstairs," she said. "Except, I might not be talking so loudly, and I'd probably be blinking more often than I am. Should I be worried about that? Isn't that supposed to be dangerous for your eyes? I can't really remember, it's been a few years since biology, but I-"  
  
"Relevancy is becoming an issue," Jess reminded her, trying not to raise his voice. He wanted to yell, but he knew he shouldn't. Everyone downstairs in the diner could probably hear them.  
  
"Right. Sorry. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous or hyper or if I've had too much caffeine, and all three pretty much apply right now, so-"  
  
"Come on," Jess said, heading towards the door.  
  
"Come on where?" Rory asked, confused. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Outside somewhere," he said. "I don't wanna talk about this here."  
  
"Ok," Rory said. "Hold on a second, I'm going to empty your suitcase."  
  
She headed toward the open suitcase on the bed, but Jess got to her first, grabbing her by the shoulders and steering her toward the door instead, Rory protesting the whole way. He steered her all the way through the diner and outside, and into Miss Patty's unlocked, and now empty, dance studio, Rory rambling the whole time. Finally, once he closed the door, he cut her off.  
  
"What the hell are you trying to pull?!" he yelled.  
  
Rory didn't understand why he was so mad all of a sudden. "I-I don't-"  
  
"You do realize you're going to drive me out of my mind, right?" he asked. "I mean, you can't do stuff like this. Don't expect me to take you seriously when you're intoxicated with God knows how much coffee-"  
  
"It's not the coffee," Rory insisted. "I'm being serious."  
  
"Yeah right," Jess said. "Last time you were this hyper, you told me you wanted to abandon your dreams of being a reporter so you could go star in Chicago on Broadway."  
  
"Well maybe I really did want that at the time," Rory said timidly.  
  
"Come on, Rory," Jess said. "Let's be realistic here. Tomorrow morning, you're gonna wake up and feel like an idiot for doing this, and you're gonna say 'Hey Jess? Remember how I asked you to stay in Stars Hollow? Well I wasn't in my right mind, so just forget it. Drive Safe.' So let's just spare ourselves the embarrassment, and I'll go back to packing, you'll go back home-"  
  
"No," Rory said, quieter this time. "I really mean it. I've been telling Lane that I want you to stay ever since last night when I found out you were leaving. So tomorrow morning when I wake up, I'm not going to feel like an idiot for doing this; I'm going to feel-"  
  
"What the hell reason do I have to stay?!?!?!" he yelled.  
  
"Me," Rory offered, tentative.  
  
"Oh yeah, since things are so great between us right now," he said, sarcastically.  
  
"Oh come on, Jess this is stupid!!!" She cried. "I-I love you!!!" he looked away, but she didn't give up. "That's right, I love you. And you love me, and this whole thing is just ridiculous! I mean, yeah, ok, so I started it by breaking up with you, but-can't I just-I dunno, take it back?"  
  
"Great," Jess said sarcastically. "So we'll kiss and make up and live happily ever after; or at least until your mother finds something else wrong with me and convinces you that I'm not worthy of you-"  
  
"Forget my mother," Rory said. "I'm not going to let her opinions have any bearing over mine whatsoever; not anymore." He didn't answer. He still wouldn't look at her. Her anxiety manifested itself as tears started welling in her eyes. "Look I'm sorry that I hurt you," she said quietly. "I really am. I was just... I dunno, I've never been in a relationship this intense before, I've never felt like this before; Dean was the only guy I ever dated before you, and I never felt this way about him-"  
  
"I'm familiar with the history," Jess cut her off. "What are you getting at?"  
  
She sighed. "I was just really scared. That's why I did it; it had almost nothing to do with my mother and her crazy, irrational disposition to find problems with you. I was just scared."  
  
"And what are you saying?" Jess asked, his skepticism fading just a little. "That you're not scared anymore?"  
  
"No I'm pretty much still terrified," Rory admitted. "But I'm not as scared of what could happen if you stay as I am of watching you leave tomorrow night."  
  
He sighed, staring at the ground. He didn't want to be hard on her. He didn't want to have yelled, and he didn't want to walk away and pretend he didn't want her back. He DID want her back. More than anything. But how could he just turn around and let her kiss him and pretend it was all better? She thought she was scared, but what about him? He was scared out of his mind. He'd never felt like this before either, but he didn't know how to hurt her, and she obviously was capable of hurting him. If he got back into this, would it only be a matter of time before she hurt him again?  
  
He just didn't want to be something in her life that she just got used to, like Dean. By the time he came along, Dean was just a part of her life that she didn't really need anymore, but didn't know how to get rid of. He didn't want to be that for her... she certainly was more than that to him.  
  
But there was something in the idea of going back to the way things were that appealed to him. Hell, there were a LOT of things about that which appealed to him. And he'd never been so miserable in his life as he had been the past few days without her.  
  
"Say something?" she whispered after a few moments.  
  
He took a deep breath and turned toward her slowly. He didn't plan to tell her he would stay or anything... but he was tired of fighting with her. He just wanted her to know that he understood, and everything was ok between them. "I'm not so good with words, so you're a pretty tough act to follow." He smirked a little to show her he wasn't angry, and as she returned a grateful smile, all his strength to refuse her just disappeared.  
  
"I'm so sorry," she said, stepping toward him. "I don't know what I can say to make it better-"  
  
"Don't say anything," he said. "I get it."  
  
She smiled and closed her eyes, leaning in to press her lips softly to his, her legs going weak at the mere closeness of him. But momentarily, it ended. He pulled away suddenly, and her eyes sprung open, bewildered.  
  
"What am I doing?" he muttered to himself, taking a few steps away from her. She sighed. She'd figured it was too good to be true.  
  
"What's the matter?" she asked cautiously.  
  
He looked at the ground. "I'm still going to New York."  
  
The words stung her like a thousand knives in the heart. Now even she wasn't enough to keep him in Stars Hollow. "I see," she managed to get out.  
  
"I can't keep turning my life upside down for you, Rory," he said softly after a moment. "I've done it a few times before, and every time I did, I ended up getting hurt."  
  
She nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying too much. "I know. I'm sorry." She turned to head toward the door, but his voice stopped her.  
  
He barely thought before saying it... but as soon as the idea popped into his head, he knew it was what he wanted. "When I come back, you better not make me regret it this time."  
  
She felt like she couldn't breathe as she turned back to him. "What do you mean?"  
  
The corners of his lips curled up ever so slightly. "I'm gonna come back."  
  
"After how long?" she asked.  
  
He shrugged. "I dunno. A couple weeks I guess. Maybe less."  
  
And now the waterworks came. She felt almost embarrassed to be crying at the mere thought that he wasn't going to leave her forever, but she didn't care enough anymore to let the embarrassment bother her. "Does this mean...?" she asked.  
  
He rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah yeah yeah, we'll kiss and make up, pretend the whole ugly mess never even happened, blah blah blah." She grinned at him, and somehow, her legs managed to carry her body over to him, and her arms wrapped themselves around him so tightly, she was surprised she wasn't cutting off his circulation. She just closed her eyes and was thankful for the fact that he was hugging her back; she couldn't imagine how she'd managed to stay sane without touching him or kissing him for the 5 days they'd been apart.  
  
She kissed him, excitedly. "You're not going to be sorry," she exclaimed. "I swear to God, you won't be sorry!" Jess chuckled. She looked just like a little kid who'd been given a new bike. "Really! I'll-I'll read any Hemingway book you want me to!! I'll take over shifts for you at the diner, and-oh!!! I'll make you cookies!!! Apparently, I make very good ones. And I- "  
  
"While you're doing all this, when are you gonna have time for me?"  
  
"I'll cut back on sleep," she said simply with a smile.  
  
He snickered, and took her face in his hands to kiss her. He'd really missed being able to do that. Her kisses killed him.  
  
But as the kiss deepened, he reluctantly pulled his face away from hers, still leaving his hands on her waist.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
He sighed. "I still don't know why I'm doing this," he said.  
  
"Kissing me?" she asked.  
  
"No," he said. "I know why I'm doing that. I don't know why I'm just caving in like this, though." He shook his head with a smile. "You're a very persuasive girl, ya' know that?"  
  
She chuckled. "It was the threat to lock you in my basement that really made your mind up, wasn't it?"  
  
"That and the promise of cookies," he joked with her.  
  
Rory laughed. "You just have to face it, Jess," she teased him. "You're completely and totally whipped."  
  
He rolled his eyes. "You're gonna pay for that one."  
  
"Ok, now I'll make cookies AND brownies." She smiled and kissed him again, this time, not letting him pull away to voice his doubt. She wanted him to know there wasn't anything to doubt anymore. She wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him even closer to her, and they both fell completely into the kiss, his hands wandering up to her head and losing themselves in her silky long brown hair. After a minute or two, as his lips began planting kisses on her neck and cheek, she asked, "So you're really leaving tomorrow night?"  
  
"That's the plan," he murmured, his lips barely leaving her skin.  
  
"So that means this is our last night together for a couple weeks, right?"  
  
He raised his head and looked at her, having a feeling he knew what she was getting at. "Yeah, that's true."  
  
She smiled a mischievous smile, a twinkle in her eyes. "So I guess we'll just have to make the most of it, huh?"  
  
He grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"Hartford?" she suggested.  
  
""Well actually I was thinking we could go just over to the gazebo, give the whole town a show."  
  
She snickered. "You're very crude, you know that?"  
  
"What?" he said, playing innocent. "Really, they all lead very boring lives. They could use some entertainment."  
  
She smiled and kissed him again quickly. "Do you wanna get your car keys, or shall I?"  
  
"You do it," Jess said. "If I go, Luke'll give me the 20 minute lecture on safe driving and the whole deal."  
  
"Ok," she said. "I'll get them in a second." She leaned in and kissed him again, and really had to force herself to pull away. "Ok, we're really gonna have to do something about those lips of yours," she said, walking toward the door. "They're much too kissable, and completely distracting."  
  
"I'll throw away all my chapstick," he called after her, barely able to suppress his smile.  
  
"It's a plan!" she called. "Go wait by the car for me!"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
How long have they been gone?  
  
Lane glanced at the clock again. 7:35. Had they left at 7:20 or 7:25? She couldn't really remember. She tapped her foot nervously. She knew whatever was going on over at Miss Patty's between Rory and Jess was going to have a huge affect on her best friend's attitude for the next few months. Either they were fighting, which meant Jess would leave tomorrow as planned, and everything would be a huge sad mess... or SOMEHOW, she was convincing to stay.  
  
The odds did seem to be out of Rory's favor here... or at least they would seem that way to anyone who didn't know them. Lane knew them, and she knew how Jess felt about Rory. He wasn't big on forgiveness usually... but he also wasn't good at turning her down. He had never been able to fully tear himself away from her in the past, no matter how bleak his chances with her looked, or how firmly he was told that he wasn't right for her.  
  
Just when Lane was trying to work up the courage to go over to Miss Patty's and try to eavesdrop through the door, Rory came bustling into the diner. She didn't stop to look at Lane, so Lane didn't get a chance to see whether her facial expression was happy or sad. Rory made a beeline for the counter.  
  
"Rory," Luke exclaimed, confused. "Where'd Jess go?"  
  
He probably just left, Lane thought to herself, preparing herself for the worst. He got so mad that he just got in his car and headed for New York, without any of his clothes or anything.  
  
"He's outside," Rory responded. She added tentatively, "Um, could I go upstairs and grab his car keys?"  
  
Oh no, Lane thought. She was really going to try to sabotage his car like she'd threatened to before. Lane had thought she was just joking. Oh this was going to be a disaster.  
  
"Why do want his keys?" Luke asked, suspicious.  
  
"Just cuz... he asked me to get them for him."  
  
"Ok, I guess its fine," Luke said, completely confused, peering out the window to see if Jess really was out there.  
  
"Ok great, thanks!" Rory called, practically sprinting up the stairs. Frustrated and anxious beyond belief, Lane followed, not even bothering to ask if it was alright with Luke.  
  
She found Rory frantically ripping Jess' room apart. "Messy punk," Rory murmured under her breath, looking in his dresser.  
  
"What the hell is going on?!" Lane cried.  
  
"Oh Lane!" Rory said, surprised to see her standing there. "I didn't hear you come in."  
  
Lane spotted the car keys in clear vision on his bedside table and grabbed them quickly, dangling them just out of Rory's reach. "If you don't tell me what's going on, I won't give you the keys."  
  
Rory chuckled a little. "He's not going to stay in New York."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's leaving tomorrow night, and then he's gonna come back in a couple weeks."  
  
Lane's eyes widened. "Does that mean you and he are--?"  
  
Rory nodded, giddily. "100 percent back together."  
  
Lane squealed with joy as the two girls hugged, ecstatic.  
  
"Oh my Gosh I'm so excited for you!" Lane exclaimed. "It's not even my love life, and I can't stop smiling! My cheeks actually hurt from smiling too much."  
  
Rory giggled. "I know it's unbelievable, isn't it? I mean... I can't believe he's actually gonna stay here for me."  
  
Lane contemplated for a moment. "He's really whipped isn't he?"  
  
Rory nodded. "Kinda, but don't mention it in front of him. Guys are very sensitive about these things."  
  
Lane handed over the keys. "Here you go. Where are you guys headed?"  
  
"Hartford."  
  
"Where in Hartford?"  
  
Rory smiled slyly. "Wherever."  
  
"You two crazy kids," Lane joked, shaking her head. She knew exactly what they were up to.  
  
Rory laughed. "I have to go, he's waiting by the car. But I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night ok?"  
  
"You better," Lane said as Rory headed out the door.  
  
**************************************************  
  
"Hey Rory, did you find the keys ok?" Luke asked.  
  
"Yeah, I got 'em," Rory replied.  
  
She looks really happy, Luke thought. What happened?  
  
"Are you guys going somewhere?"  
  
"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Hartford."  
  
"Where in Hartford?"  
  
"Umm... bookstore?" she lied through her teeth.  
  
"Yeah sure," Luke said, skeptic. "Just don't be back too late."  
  
Rory nodded. "We won't. Oh and Luke?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I wouldn't bother trying to find boxes to send his stuff in," she said.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"He just doesn't need you to send his stuff to New York anymore, that's all." She grinned again, hurrying out the door. "Bye Luke!"  
  
As she walked out of the diner, Jess looked up at her, his stomach jumping at the mere sight of her modest smile. She handed him the keys.  
  
"Thanks," he said, going to unlock the door, but her hand on his arm stopped him.  
  
"Hold on a second," she requested.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"You're really sure about this, right?" she asked. "Because I don't want to find out in a month that you're still upset with me. Not that you wouldn't have the right to be, but-"  
  
"Rory, it's forgotten, ok?" he smirked a little. "I think you've done more than your share of apologizing. Besides, if you can forgive me for all the times I screwed up, then I can sure as hell put this behind me-"  
  
Rory laughed aloud. "What are you talking about? When have you screwed up?"  
  
"Plenty of times."  
  
"Name one."  
  
"The time I crashed your car."  
  
"Oh. Right."  
  
Jess chuckled. "Not to mention the way I used to say I'd call and then never call you-"  
  
"Please, that's NOTHING," Rory interrupted him. "Last year, I kissed you, and then ran of to another state for three months without so much as ONE phone call-"  
  
"Well yeah, cuz you were with Dean then," he said. "I'm the one who went after you even when I knew you were with him-"  
  
"Well it's not like I wasn't giving you mixed signals. I was flirting with you, it wasn't your fault-"  
  
"No, at first you weren't flirting with me. I was just around all the time, and eventually you fell for me. Probably just because I wouldn't leave you alone," he smiled. She sighed.  
  
"Fine then, let's just both agree that we've both screwed up numerous times."  
  
"And we're both forgiven," Jess added.  
  
"That's right," Rory said. "What's past is past, right?"  
  
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Jess agreed. He kissed her. "Come on, it's getting late, let's hit the road."  
  
************************************************************  
  
When they got to the front desk at the motel, the clerk eyed them suspiciously. He knew he'd seen them before.  
  
"Welcome back," he said.  
  
Rory blushed obviously. "Oh. Um, thanks..."  
  
"We need a room, please," Jess changed the subject.  
  
"Sure thing," The clerk said, going to the computer. "Out-of-towners?" he asked, skeptically.  
  
"That we are," Jess said before Rory had a chance to attempt a lie. She didn't work well under pressure like this.  
  
"Where from?" The clerk asked. They didn't look old enough to be traveling alone together.  
  
"New York city," Jess answered, taking Rory's hand in his to reassure her. He knew she was always nervous they were going to get caught.  
  
"Yeah, New York," Rory piped in. "His parents-his family lives-I mean, his family is from there so-"  
  
"We're having a family reunion," Jess cut her off. "Just wanted to get some alone time, my folks are staying in our apartment."  
  
Rory nodded. "Yeah. What he said."  
  
The clerk nodded, an amused smirk playing his lips. "I see. I hope our accommodations are satisfactory."  
  
Rory nodded. "Oh yeah sure. I mean-hey, there's cable, right? What more could we ask for?" She laughed nervously.  
  
"How's that room coming?" Jess asked, a little impatient. The clerk handed him a key.  
  
"You're in 214," he said. "That'll be 40 dollars."  
  
Jess pulled out his wallet and paid.  
  
"Thanks a bunch," said the clerk. "Enjoy your stay."  
  
Walking outside, Rory and Jess squeezed each other's hands; Rory did so to keep calm; Jess did so to keep from bursting out laughing.  
  
"Oh my God," she murmured once they were outside. Jess chuckled. "Why are you laughing?" she asked.  
  
"Because if I'd laughed in there, he would have known we were lying."  
  
"That was not funny, that was embarrassing," Rory insisted.  
  
"Oh come on," he said. "'There's cable, what more could we ask for?' You gotta admit, it was pretty funny."  
  
A reluctant smile played her lips. "Ok. It was a little funny." Jess smiled victoriously. "But it was also a little disturbing," Rory added.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"I had no idea you were so good at lying," she teased, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust you again. I mean sure, you SAY you're working one night, but for all I know you're really out at some pub with a floozy in a tight skirt."  
  
Jess draped an arm across her shoulders. "Nah, I wouldn't do that. Hanging out with floozies would be bad for my image."  
  
"And dating a small town prep school girl isn't?"  
  
"Well the girl's mother hates me, so that makes up for it," he joked, leading her toward the door to their room.  
  
"You know," she began, turning towards him, putting her arms around his neck. "She probably won't hate you anymore."  
  
"Yeah right," Jess chuckled. "We're talking about your mother, Rory. She thinks I'm a criminal, remember?"  
  
"Well you sort of are a criminal," Rory said.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Well you know, what with the thievery and all."  
  
"Hey, I returned all the stuff I took remember? So it wasn't really crime so much as it was... an elaborate prank."  
  
Rory sighed. "The point is, my mother doesn't have some hidden agenda against you. She just wants me to be happy, that's all."  
  
"Well are you happy?"  
  
"As a clam."  
  
"Good. So I guess we have nothing to worry about then, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, you could say that." She smiled and pulled him closer to her for a kiss. She felt almost giddy to be able to kiss him again; it was just like their first few days together. Every little touch, every flirtatious smile, every kiss was exciting; it all gave her butterflies.  
  
Never breaking the kiss, Jess fumbled with the keys and managed to get the door open.  
  
"Home sweet home," he said, closing the door behind them.  
  
"What time is it?" Rory asked.  
  
Jess checked his watch. "8:15. What time do you have to be home?"  
  
"I said 11:30 in the message I left my mom," she answered.  
  
"Ok," he said. "We've got a few hours. There's no rush."  
  
She smiled, relieved, and fell into another kiss. His fingers played with the hem of her shirt, and the way that his hands felt when they scarcely touched the bare skin of her back drove her crazy. Soon, she began tugging on the hem of his shirt, and he helped her take it off. They didn't have to go through the nervous banter that they had before. They both just felt so relieved to be back together; they didn't need to talk about it anymore. It was understood. They could just be together. It was all either of them wanted.  
  
********************************************************  
  
The pathway is broken, and the signs are unclear  
  
And I don't know the reason why you brought me here  
  
But just because you love me the way that you do  
  
I'm gonna walk through the valley  
  
If you want me to  
  
Cuz I'm not who I was when I took my first step  
  
And I'm clinging to the promise you're not through with me yet  
  
So if all of these trials bring me closer to you  
  
Then I will go through the fire  
  
If you want me to  
  
It may not be the way I would have chosen  
  
When you lead me through a world that's not my home  
  
But you never said it would be easy  
  
You only said I'd never go alone  
  
So when the whole world turns against me  
  
And I'm all by myself  
  
And I can't hear you answer  
  
My cries for help  
  
I'll remember the suffering  
  
Your love put you through  
  
And I will go through the valley  
  
If you want me to...  
  
***************************************************  
  
"It's 11:32," Jess murmured through a kiss, eyeing his watch.  
  
Rory sighed, and looked up at the house from where they stood on the lawn. "Well the only lights in the house that are on are in her room," she said. "That means she's not sitting in the living room waiting for me, which is a good sign."  
  
Jess nodded. "Yeah, unless she's just watching us from her bedroom window with binoculars."  
  
Rory chuckled. "No, her binoculars don't work," she said. "She dropped them out the window when she was trying to spy on Lane and I a couple months ago. She was convinced we were planning a surprise party for her birthday."  
  
"Isn't her birthday in the middle of the summer?"  
  
Rory nodded. "That's what she thought we were doing, just the same. But enough of that, back to the kissing please?"  
  
Jess chuckled as she kissed him again. After a minute or so, he was so engrossed, he nearly forgot the issue of time. He eyed his watch again, and pried his lips away.  
  
"11:36 and counting."  
  
Rory sighed. "Ok." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow at 11?"  
  
"Graduation doesn't start until 11:30," he said.  
  
"I know," she said with a smile. "I wanna see you before it starts. Take a picture of you in your cap and gown, you know."  
  
He rolled his eyes. "You HAD to remind me of the cap and gown didn't you?"  
  
"Hey, you could always do what Zak in 'She's All That' did, and just go naked with a soccer ball."  
  
"Brilliant idea." He kissed her again. "Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Rory unlocked her door and went inside. She was about to head straight to her room and wait for her mother to seek her out, but decided instead to go up and see her. She found Lorelai's room a complete mess, with clothes and accessories tossed everywhere.  
  
"Whoa," she said, stepping over a pile of clothes to get into the room. "What happened in here? Hurricaine Lorelai?"  
  
Lorelai popped her head out of the closet with a smile. "Rory! You're home."  
  
"Yeah, just got back," she said, sitting on the bed. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Trying to pick out an outfit for Lane's graduation tomorrow." Lorelai replied. "What are you gonna wear? Cuz we wouldn't wanna clash."  
  
"I was gonna wear that lavender dress with the straps and ruffles on the bottom."  
  
"The Betsy Johnson Dress?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded. "Ooo, fancy," Lorelai commented. She smiled slyly and added, "Who are you trying to impress?"  
  
Rory sighed. "It's not about impressing anyone, I just wanna look nice. There are going to be a lot of pictures taken, and should I be in one, I'd prefer to look good."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Ok. That helps actually, because that will look very nice with my pink paisley vintage-y dress." She smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Rory took a deep breath. "Mom, I um... I should tell you..." Lorelai looked up attentively.  
  
"Yeah, honey?"  
  
"Well when I left you that message saying I would be at a bookstore in Hartford tonight, I um... I didn't mention that I went with Jess."  
  
"Oh," was all that Lorelai said.  
  
"We're sort of... back together," Rory said. "Well not sort of. Completely. We're definitely, completely back together."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "I figured as much."  
  
"You did?"  
  
"Oh please," Lorelai said with a chuckle, hanging her clothes back up in her closet. "'I'm going to a bookstore in Hartford'? The car was with me, and you sure didn't walk there. There's only one person in the world I can think of who would voluntarily take you to Hartford for the sake of books."  
  
Rory smiled a little. "You don't seem very mad."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "That's probably because I'm not."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"I'm not mad. I just want you to be happy, sweetie. And from what Luke said about the look on your face before you left, you're a lot happier when you're with Jess."  
  
Rory smiled. "I am," she said.  
  
"Good," Lorelai said. "So he's really staying?"  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
"Wow," Lorelai commented. "What made him change his mind?"  
  
Rory sighed. "I did, I guess."  
  
Lorelai smiled, completely touched that any boy would care enough about Rory to make such a huge change in plans just to be in close proximity to her. "Wow. That just goes to show you, the Gilmore women know what they want, and they will not be denied." Rory nodded, but an awkward silence filled the air as Lorelai continued putting her clothes away. After a moment, she threw the dress in her hands onto a nearby chair.  
  
"You know, this can wait till tomorrow," she said. "What do you say you and I stay up and eat some ice cream out of the pint and have a girl's night in? It's been a while since we've had a real talk, you and I." She smiled. "I'll even give you a manicure and pedicure so you can look extra special for your boyfriend's graduation tomorrow."  
  
Rory smiled. "Well you know I can never refuse ice cream out of the pint." She stood, and Lorelai put her arm around Rory's shoulder's as they both headed down the stairs, talking and laughing like nothing had ever changed. Everything finally felt right again.  
  
**************************************************************************  
  
"I look like an idiot," Jess said, taking his cap off.  
  
"Oh come on," Rory said, taking it from his hands and putting it back on his head. "It's not that bad. It makes you look studious."  
  
"Well I'm not studious, so no wonder it looks all wrong." He took it off again.  
  
"If you don't complain about it until after the ceremony, then I promise I won't make you wear it in ANY of the pictures I take." She offered her hand. "Deal?"  
  
"Add a kiss to that, and you've got a deal," he said. She smiled, taking his face in her hands, and kissed him. He nodded. "Ok then. It's settled."  
  
She smiled with a sigh as they started walking side by side toward the door. The ceremony would start soon, and Rory had to go to her seat. "It's nice being able to do that again."  
  
"I agree," he said. "After graduation, we can do that some more."  
  
"Really?" she asked. "You don't have plans or anything?"  
  
He shook his head. "Just packing," he said. "I was supposed to pack last night, but... I got a little distracted by some crazy girl with too much coffee in her system. I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind if you 'Helped me pack'."  
  
Rory smiled. "I'd love to." She kissed him again quickly. "I have to go to my seat. But hey, you'll probably get sick of hearing this after the ceremony, so I wanna be the first one to say it. Congratulations."  
  
He tried to play it off as no big deal. "Oh come on-"  
  
"No, stop it. You should be proud. You could have flunked out last year. I can't even imagine how much work you must have done to catch up in time to graduate." She took his cap out of his hands and placed it on his head again. "Seriously. Congratulations."  
  
Jess watched her walk down the hall and into the auditorium. After she was out of sight, he glanced in one of the mirrors that had been set up for the graduating kids in the hallway. The outfit did look kind of stupid... but it didn't look as out of place on him as he'd expected it to. He was a really different person than he was when he'd first moved there. He'd become somebody that people were actually capable of missing, somebody worth keeping around. All his life he'd been an incredibly attractive person... but it wasn't until then that he was able to look in the mirror and actually like the person he saw.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
"You're absolutely sure?"  
  
"Positive," Jess answered. "No matter what happens, I'll be back in Stars Hollow 2 weeks from today, if not sooner."  
  
"Well how can you be so sure?" Rory challenged him. "What if he's as persuasive as I am?"  
  
Jess chuckled. "Nobody's as persuasive as you, Rory."  
  
She was stalling. The walk from the diner to Gypsy's, where his car was being checked for problems, had never taken so long as it was taking today. She even dragged her feet, in vain hopes to prolong their time together before he drove off. Graduation had ended hours ago, and they'd spent the whole evening until then up in Luke's apartment talking, kissing, laughing, and just trying to make up for lost time. They could have gone to the graduation party that Lane and Dave had gone to, but they'd decided to hang out alone instead.  
  
"Seriously, though," she said. "What if you get there, and he's the ideal father that you've always wanted?"  
  
"Rory, there's very little chance that I'll get there and he'll be Iggy Pop."  
  
"Iggy Pop is your ideal father?"  
  
"Hey, he was cool, he was a phenomenal musician, he was one of the forefather's of punk, and he was well-read."  
  
"He rolled around in his own blood on stage."  
  
"Well nobody's perfect." He grinned. "Who'd you expect my ideal father to be? Mister Rogers?"  
  
"No," Rory said. "I'm just saying, what if he turns out to have a good reason for you to stay?"  
  
"What would be a good reason for me to stay?"  
  
"I dunno; he could offer you all kinds of stuff, like... money, or a place to stay....."  
  
"So my ideal father is a Genie from a magic lamp?"  
  
"Well what if he's rich?" Rory asked, ignoring his amused comments.  
  
"Then he can buy some other kid's love," Jess replied.  
  
"Then what if he's really nice?"  
  
"YOU'RE really nice," Jess said. "One really nice person in my life is sufficient, thanks."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "So you're telling me that even if you're father turns out to be nice, AND rich, AND the kind of guy who can promise you all sorts of things that you want-"  
  
"I will still be on your front porch in two weeks, yes. That is what I am telling you."  
  
"Even if he's a world famous author?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And if he offers you a quarter of a million dollars worth in books?"  
  
"Still."  
  
"Even if he offers you a brand new pony in exchange for staying?"  
  
"Even then." Jess said. "Well, except then I would show up in two weeks on your lawn with a brand new pony as a gift for you, cuz Lorelai told me you always wanted one."  
  
"You stole the hypothetical pony that your hypothetical ideal father gave you?" She asked, faking shock.  
  
"Hey, you're the one who called me a thief, I'm just trying to live up to your expectations," he said.  
  
Rory sighed as they neared the car. Luke was there, filling the tank with gas, talking to Gypsy. Rory tugged on Jess' arm to make him stop walking before they got too close.  
  
"What is it?" he asked. She didn't answer; she just kissed him.  
  
After a minute, he pulled away a little and smiled at her. She didn't smile.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked. "You look worried."  
  
"I am," she said. "I know it's stupid, because you promise you're coming back... but I can't help it."  
  
He kissed her to comfort her anxiety. "Hey, you know how to get to New York. Last time you thought I was gone for good, you went and got me. It worked then, it'll work again."  
  
Feeling slightly reassured, she let his hand on her back lead her slowly towards the car again. "And you won't get annoyed with me if I call you in New York every day?"  
  
"Why should I?" he asked. "I call you every day here in Stars Hollow, and we're only a 5 minute walk away from each other." He smiled. "Besides, I'll need you to keep me updated on all the exciting stuff going on in town," he said sarcastically.  
  
Rory snickered. "Cuz lord knows you're more concerned about the everyday town gossip than anything."  
  
"Damn straight," he played along.  
  
"You got everything you need?" Luke asked as they neared the car.  
  
"Pretty much," Jess said. "Is the car ok?" he asked Gypsy.  
  
"Well considering it was a Grade A piece of crap when I sold it to you, it's amazing," Gypsy responded. "You're all set to go."  
  
Jess nodded. "Just give me a minute," he said to no one in particular, turning back to Rory.  
  
"Well," she said, trying to be optimistic. "Two weeks isn't that long, right?"  
  
"I think we'll manage," he said. "And as soon as I get back, I'll show up on your front porch-"  
  
"With or without a pony," Rory added with a smile.  
  
"Do I wanna know?" Luke whispered to Gypsy.  
  
"Probably not," she replied bluntly.  
  
"Hey by the way," Rory said, "If it turns out that your father actually IS Iggy Pop, make sure you call me and let me know. Cuz in spite of that whole rolling-around-in-his-own-blood-on-stage thing, I still do have a lot of respect and admiration for that guy."  
  
He chuckled and kissed her quickly before opting for a hug instead. It felt weird kissing her in front of Luke.  
  
"I love you," she whispered so softly, nobody but him could hear it.  
  
"I love you too," he replied, not ready to let go of her yet.  
  
Luke looked up at the dark sky. "It's getting pretty late, you should hit the road soon."  
  
Jess sighed. "Fine, fine," she said. He pulled away from her a little, but she kissed his cheek before he got too far.  
  
He and Luke faced each other, both unsure of what they were supposed to do.  
  
"So uh..." Luke began, "I guess just-ya' know, good luck, and drive safe, and all that..."  
  
"Yeah, thanks," Jess replied. They stood silently, staring at their shoes for a bit before Luke awkwardly opened his arms, seeming to suggest a hug.  
  
"Oh man," Jess said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Oh come on!" Gypsy said, pushing them together into a quick hug. Rory giggled. It was about time.  
  
Jess turned back to Rory. "Hey," he said, "It might be pretty late when I get there, so-"  
  
"I'll still be up," she assured him. "You can call."  
  
He nodded. "Ok."  
  
"So... I guess it's time to say goodbye," she said.  
  
"Not goodbye," he corrected her. "Say 'see you in two weeks'." He smirked. "As a future journalist, you really should learn to be more accurate."  
  
She smiled as he got into his car. "See you in two weeks."  
  
He didn't answer. He just smiled and started the ignition.  
  
"Have fun," Luke offered before Jess hit the gas and headed off towards the interstate highway. Rory and Luke stood and watched, long after the car was out of sight.  
  
"You think he'll like his dad?" Rory asked him.  
  
Luke shrugged. "Who could say? I mean the guy deserted him. I think it's not so much a question of Jess liking him as it's a question of whether or not he'll forgive him."  
  
Rory smiled. "Well Jess is capable of forgiveness," she said. "Believe me."  
  
Hearing yelling in the distance, Luke looked around confused. "Do you hear that?"  
  
Rory listened hard, but the noise got closer quickly. "She's coming," Rory said.  
  
Moments later, Lorelai came into view, running faster than any woman in high heels had ever managed to run in the past.  
  
"Wait!!!" she called. "I'm coming!!! I said I would and I'm here..." she trailed off as she neared Rory and Luke, seeing no car anywhere around. "Oh damn!" she said. "I'm too late."  
  
"Late for what?" Luke asked.  
  
"I wanted to be here for Jess," Lorelai said. "For moral support. I wanted to see him off and wave a handkerchief so he'd see us waving in his rearview mirror."  
  
"She wanted to prove she really doesn't hate him," Rory explained to Luke.  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much what it comes down to." She sighed. "I tried to get here in time, I really did, but then Michel started acting up, and then there was a problem with the water heater, and customers kept calling the front desk about why their showers were spewing ice water-"  
  
"It's ok mom," Rory reassured her. "I'm sure Jess wasn't all too heartbroken that you couldn't make it."  
  
"But I was supposed to prove that I don't hate him," Lorelai whined.  
  
"Trust me, Mom, you should be glad you missed it. If you'd gotten here in time, Gypsy might have forced you to hug him."  
  
Lorelai sighed. "Oh well in that case, hallelujah! Thank god for the broken water heater." She paused. "I say we go get food."  
  
"I second the motion," Rory agreed.  
  
"Well I left the diner closed today so I could deal with Jess and everything," Luke said, "but I could whip up something for you guys in a few minutes."  
  
"No actually, I was kind of thinking about going to Taylor's soda shoppe," Rory suggested.  
  
"Oh yeah!!!" Lorelai agreed, enthusiastically. "I'm totally in the mood to bother Taylor. Let's go for it."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "All right, see you guys tomorrow."  
  
"Oh come on Luke," Lorelai said, grabbing his arm. "Come with us."  
  
"Oh no," he said. "I don't do old fashioned junk food stores. I don't even like soda."  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Fine, then grab a head of lettuce from your place, and then sit with us at the soda shoppe while you eat it. Really, it'll be fun. You and Rory can mope about how Jess is gone, and you can watch me torment Taylor, and then the two of you can carry me home together when I'm too full to walk." Lorelai looped her arm through his, not really waiting for an answer. He had no choice; he was coming with them. Rory smiled to herself. Ever since they'd made up, they'd been extra flirtatious. Even more flirtatious than usual, and that was REALLY saying something.  
  
Luke stopped short, hearing a familiar piece of music start to play over the loud speakers.  
  
"Oh, God, not again," he complained.  
  
"Oh suck it up," Lorelai said, dragging him toward the shoppe.  
  
"He's playing the music at night now!" Luke cried. "He used to only play it in the mornings, but now he's doing it at night too. Next thing you know it'll be all day long, non-stop." He sighed. "And this same damn song every time. It's starting to get on my nerves."  
  
Lorelai gasped. "Luke!!! Don't say things like that about the Beatles!"  
  
"Yeah," Rory piped in. "If you're discovered as a hater of the Beatles, the town might go crazy and burn you at the stake or something."  
  
Luke sighed. "I don't hate the Beatles," he said. "But it's just this one song. I mean, you try hearing this song every morning for a month or so, and then you tell me how much you still like it."  
  
Rory smiled a little, opening the door to Taylor's Shoppe. "I like it," she said. "It brings back good memories." She fingered the silver pendant around her neck, humming along softly to the song as they walked.  
  
Honey Pie  
  
You are making me crazy  
  
I'm in love but I'm lazy  
  
So won't you please come home...  
  
THE END ***************************************************  
  
A/N: So that's it guys. Wow. I finished. I feel so nice and cleansed. I got that all out of my system. But I'm wondering... should I do a sequel? It would really just be a new story, focusing on this developing issue of Jess and his dad and how it affects his relationship with Rory, and then maybe expanding on this Luke and Lorelai thing? Should I do it? Lemme know in reviews, ok? Alright. I love you guys, I hope this happy ending was satisfactory. It was really hard to write! Yikes! But hopefully worth it.  
  
Ciao  
  
~Emaline  
  
Song List:  
  
Part 1: ~Honey Pie- The Beatles (On the White Album, not to be confused with another song by the Beatles called WILD honey pie. VERY different songs)  
  
Part 2  
  
~I'm beginning to see the light- Ella Fitzgerald  
  
~This year's Love- David Gray  
  
Part 3  
  
No songs in this chapter (sorry)  
  
Part 4  
  
~Breathing- Lifehouse  
  
~Yellow- Coldplay  
  
Part 5  
  
~Come Away with me- Norah Jones  
  
Part 6  
  
~Will you Still Love Me tomorrow- Ok the version that I meant to use is the ORIGINAL performed by the Shirelles. I know I know, Carol King did one too, but that was a few years later. There are a lot of covers, you choose which one you want.  
  
Part 7  
  
~Completely Pleased- Semisonic  
  
~The following songs by the Misfits weren't used for lyrics, but were mentioned... anyone who's a punk/hardcore fan should check them out: We are 138, Hybrid Moments, Mommy can I go out and Kill tonight?  
  
Part 8  
  
No Songs sorry  
  
Part 9  
  
Confession- The Openers (this is a local, completely unknown band, so you probably wouldn't be able to find it online or anything... sorry)  
  
Part 10  
  
~The Second Day- Kendall Payne  
  
Part 11  
  
~Honest- Kendall Payne  
  
Part 12  
  
~Without you- The Kinks  
  
~Wasting my time- Sam Phillips  
  
Part 13  
  
~Let Me In- Save Ferris  
  
~Drive You Home- Garbage (I'm not actually a huge fan of all the songs I used in this story... most of them I only used because the lyrics applied to the story... But THIS song... it's incredible. Seriously. I totally recommend it. I give it five stars!)  
  
~Walk away- Ben Harper  
  
Part 14  
  
~I dare you to run- Switchfoot  
  
~If you want me to- Ginny Owens  
  
~Honey Pie- The Beatles (once again...) 


End file.
